KP: Secret Shame Saga Prologue
by SecretShame
Summary: Shego's having a heck of a time. Drakken is making it worse. Kim and Ron are trying to figure it all out. And some other weirdo is at the cause of it all. Action and adventure! Friendships and Romance! Sexy! Comedy! Fluidity! Part 8 is Up. R & R People!
1. Part One: Robutt Wrangling

Kim Possible: Secret Shame Saga

(My Shaming Fan Fiction Story)

In mortal fear of legal retribution, I attach the following copywrite note:

All characters, names and likenesses from the television show Kim Possible are owned and ruled by Disney with an iron fist. They are used without permission, but will never ever be used to make money by the writer, ever. So he swears profusely.

All other character(s) created specifically for this story are done so by the author (SecretShame), and may not be used without his super special permission. Otherwise, you truly suck. Honestly… it's not hard to make your own characters up. Even if you secretly created them based off of someone (or a series of someones), just change them enough to make them your own. And then don't tell anyone.

Works for me.

The Author

* * *

Release Notes: 

The first part of this "saga" (I'm only calling it that because I don't know how long or far it will go) was written during the middle of Season 4. I purposely wrote it so that it could hypothetically fit in at almost any point in the show's history, being careful to avoid directly referencing key events in the show's timeline. I do this because I still want to see what's going to occur this season, particularly for the finale, and figure out what part(s) I'd like to build off of for my own story. I am particularly interested in this new uberbad villain, and how that's going to affect Team Possible. While planning this story, I had thought about creating my own, more serious, supervillian to throw into the mix… but when I heard they were going to do that for the finale, I decided to hold out to see if what they make will fit the mold of what I wanted to write about in my story.

Just so you know. In case you… I dunno, give a crap. I know I sure don't.

Mwa ha ha!

The Author, again.

* * *

PART ONE: Robutt Wrangling

With a loud pop, the last of the seven steel bars was cut free. She grit her teeth in annoyance as her gloved hand gently placed the hot piece of metal on the roof beside her. She had been much quieter on the last six. She wasn't taking the time she should have. It wasn't excitement or anxiousness that prompted her speed. Shego didn't get anxious. She simply got impatient.

Nevertheless, no one noticed her entrance into the complex that night. As she quickly wormed her lithe form through the air ducts, the empty hallways, the silent laboratories, towards the primary R & D bay, not an alarm was tripped. There were cameras, but they caught only shadows. There were pressure plates, but they were deftly dodged. There were infrared sensors, but they were frozen with CO2.

Shego was a professional.

Finally, she reached the entrance to the R & D bay; a short hallway that ended at a set of large blast doors. Shego didn't enter the hallway immediately, instead she bent low to inspect the floor and wall. She noticed the crisscrossing laser grid that made entrance into the hall impossible without severe pain. She also noticed the maintenance access panel that would allow someone with the knowledge to deactivate the grid.

Shego was too impatient for that.

With amazing agility, she leapt directly into the grid. Flipping and twisting, dodging and weaving, she hopped up off of the wall, bounced one-handed off the floor and gracefully landed in front of the blast doors. The alarms were silent.

"Like to see ya cheer through that, Princess," she grumbled under her breath.

Standing before the tall blast doors in her trademark green and black jumpsuit, Shego knew she could hotwire them through the panel on the wall, it would be easy for her. But truth be told, she really didn't feel like doing that. Instead, Shego felt like making a fist. Then, she did something she couldn't easily explain, as though pulling at something deep inside of her. She made her fist glow with a strange green light, a light that danced and hissed like fire. And then, with a slight grin, she punched her fist into the access panel.

Sparks and smoke spilled from the gaping hole she had just made, and with a great hiss and a reverberating shutter, the blast doors slowly crept open. It never ceased to amaze her how often that worked in these high-tech facilities.

Inside the bay, she stopped to get her bearings. The room was huge. Overhead cranes crossed the length of the building, their hooked chains hanging eerily. A multitude of crates and pallets were stacked along the walls. Various strange machines and bizarre testing facilities made up the center. On the far side, several forklifts sat parked in a neat row, awaiting the next workday. She didn't waste much more time then that, getting impatient once again. She immediately headed for the center of the room.

In her impatience, she did not notice the last pressure plate, a foot from the blast doors.

Somewhere inside the bay, a silent sentry began to awaken with a soft beep.

As soon as Shego reached the first workstation, she began to rummage through the clutter of machinery, tossing gadgets and tools aside in her search. She began mumbling to herself as she did so, moving from table to table in frustration.

"Small shiny box, small shiny box. Arrgh. You stupid blue idiot. Everything in the room is a small shiny box!" She brushed past a particularly big-looking laser cannon balanced on a tripod. About twenty feet in front of it stood a fresh, five-foot-thick sheet of steel, waiting for tomorrow's series of tests. It looked like it might be fun, but Shego needed to find something else first.

Moving over to the next set of work benches, Shego scanned through a binder. Next, a tall stack of papers went floating to the floor one at a time. No clues as to where her goal might lay were found.

"Nuclear capacitor switch, where are you? Come on!" Another set of sheets went flying with a growl. "Not like Dr D can come and find it himself, oh no… he's got to send me to find this stupid thing." Shego, however, knew full well that she could never have gotten Drakken into this particular facility without the klutz setting off numerous alarms. In truth, she had to convince him not to come along for that reason. She ground her teeth in frustration remembering him vaguely describe the device he wanted, shaping a small rectangle with his tiny hands, and calling it "a smallish, boxish, thing… oh, and it's shiny!"

Truth be told, this particular classified research complex was one of the better ones for security. Not that Shego had any difficulty, herself. But she knew that it would have been a big mistake to set off an alarm in this place. Which is why she grew even more irritated having to look for so long. Where was the damn thing? Drakken said there should be dozens of them here!

Shego booted up a computer on the next table. She quickly found the system inventory and scanned through it and finally found the piece of super hardware on the list. Her jaw dropped in disbelief.

"On freaking backorder?" The green skinned woman snarled, standing straight before the glowing screen. "You have got to be kidding me!" Her fist raised in anger, about to smash the computer, when she noticed something. Quickly leaning forward and tapping a few items down, her eyes narrowed. "It says there should be one left in stock. But where…"

"In the storage closet, over by the vending machine," a voice said in the darkness.

Shego instantly spun around to face the speaker, angry expectation already in place as to who it was. _How the hell does she always…_

She froze in surprise. The voice's owner was crouched on top of a massive crate, not six feet from where she stood. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with a series of leather straps and buckles running along the side. A pair of equally black pants hugged his coiled legs. A thin line of silver ran down along his hips to his ankles interrupted only by a grey utility pouch strapped to his right thigh. Straight black hair hung down to either side of his head, framing a sharp, smirking face with a pair of strange grey eyes that regarded her with curiosity. His bare arms, muscled and taut, casually rested on his knees.

One hand griped something smallish, boxish and shiny.

"Hey!" Shego shouted. "Who... wha... how?" She pointed an angry finger at his hand. "Give me that!"

The man looked taken aback. He held the device closer to himself with a frown.

"No!"

"Come on you dork, I've been looking for that!" Shego stood stiffly. "Give it to me right now!" She pointed at the ground in front of her forcefully, like a commanding mother.

"I've been looking for it too," he growled, "and I found it first!"

"_You_ found it…? Oh no, you are NOT pulling that with me!" She took a threatening step forward. "You give me that thing or I'll…"

The dark haired man cocked his head in interest. "Your skin is green."

Shego blinked in sudden surprise. "Yeah, well doy… good eye there champ."

"Wait a second," grey eyes widened in recognition, "I know who you are!" He pointed at the green woman with his empty hand. "You're Shego, aren't you? The super thief!"

Shego, still slightly off balance, straightened at the recognition. She cocked and eyebrow at the crouching man. "Yeah?"

"Oh wow," he leaned forward, grinning, "I've heard about you. They say you're the best there is. Not afraid of anyone, nothing you can't steal. I've heard guys talk about you in fear!"

Not immune to compliments, Shego relaxed her posture ever so slightly and smiled modestly. "Ah, well…" she waved her hand dismissively, "I've been known to lift the odd diamond or kick the odd butt, you know, nothing huge."

"_Nothing huge_?" The dark man slipped gracefully to sit on the edge of the crate. "You took the Black Fist, the world's _only_ black diamond, from the Global Justice underground treasury! There are only five people on Earth who even know where it is!"

"Phfff," the green thief shrugged with an embarrassed smile, "it was just a matter of finding the zip code. Even Global Justice gets junk mail."

"That's nuts," the man regarded Shego for a moment, before leaning back casually, "which is why I'm surprised you're so damn loud."

Shego stood, mouth agape, about to accept another compliment graciously. Her head jerked in surprise. "Hey!" She shouted. "Whaddya mean _loud_?"

Black shoulders shrugged. "Well you practically blew the door open. That alone made enough noise to wake the dead. And then you stomp through the place kicking over machinery and grumbling to yourself. If there were any live security guards around here, they couldn't have slept through that if they tried."

Shego sputtered furiously. "Who do you… That's it!" Her clawed hands suddenly burst into roaring green flames. "I'll show you loud!"

The man's grey eyes widened in surprise. "Oh… right… I had heard about that too."

Flaming green death blasted the crate, blowing it to splinters. Shego was only a little surprised as the black-clad man easily flipped backwards into the air from a seated position, escaping the explosion. She was, however, quite surprised to see him land on the wall only to stay suspended by gripping to it with his one free hand and his feet. She noticed he was barefoot.

"Now wait just a minute there, sweetpea," he beseeched the deadly woman. "Let's talk about this…"

"You come back here and give me that… thing!" She yelled, leaping onto a workbench. Another volley of green plasma flew towards her target. The man spun and hopped sideways along the wall, using three limbs to grip and scuttle out of the way. As the blast connected and shook the wall, he leap to land on another series of crates. He quickly hopped from one to the other in a mad dash as Shego unleashed a torrent of green flames, destroying every crate he landed on.

"Hold still you idiot!" The green thief shouted as she flipped sideways to land on another desk, firing plasma as she did so.

"I would, if you'd settle down!" The man bellowed, spinning off his last crate to land on his feet, running straight towards the nearest wall, then taking five strides straight up it before flipping straight backwards to grab the hanging chain of an overhead crane. Well-oiled wheels above him moved with his inertia to roll into the center of the room.

Shego's flaming blasts followed him. As the crane swung towards her she was forced to dodge the heavy hook, rolling off the desk and onto the floor and firing into the air as she came to a stop on one knee. Above her, flaming pitch soared to either side of the man as he hung by one arm. The other managed to push the shiny metal box into his utility pouch. With both hands now free, he griped the chain and quickly began to scale it towards the ceiling.

"Oh no you don't," Shego growled as she fired a volley at the crane itself. Hitting her mark, the heavy-duty mechanism was torn apart.

With a yelp, the man plummeted to the ground. Landing in a roll, he managed to barely avoid being crushed by the falling gearbox. Shego took the opportunity to close the gap between them, somersaulting over the desk to land next to the destroyed crane. The man flipped sideways to keep the gearbox between them.

"You sure know how to keep a low profile!" He shouted at the woman in annoyance, barely ducking a blast of green in response. "I see you're reputation is well earned!"

"I would have been long gone with no one the wiser if you hadn't stuck your dumb face in here!" She roared, loosing more blasts of plasma at the man's ducking head. "Now I'm going to turn you into a bubbling pile of goo if you don't…"

It was right about then that the sentry finished warming up.

The ground suddenly shook as a fifty foot robot strode into the room. Shego and the dark man both stood transfixed, staring at the metal monster in shock. It looked like some sort of giant children's toy, complete with flashing lights and a ridiculous looking antenna protruding from the top of its domed head. On its left arm stood an impressive-looking cannon. Massive mechanical claws seemed to flex in anticipation as two glowing orbs coldly regarded the two intruders, undoubtedly calculating the most efficient way to eradicate them. The calculation was finished in a matter of microseconds.

"_BEEP BOOP BOOP BEEP. X L-33T ONLINE. DETECT HOSTILES. ENGAGING PRIMARY ASS-KICK SEQUENCE. BEEP BEEP BOOP BOOP!"_ The gunned arm rose and fired a blinding yellow blast.

Both figures dodged behind the gearbox as it took the brunt of the discharge. Shego found herself face to face with the dark haired man. She flipped her long dark hair out of her way and grimaced at him. "You turned on a damn robot?"

The man looked at her with disgust. "Me? _You're_ the one blowing everything up!"

"Well maybe if you gave me that stupid box!" She grabbed at his utility pouch.

"Hey!" The man snatched her wrist. "Hands off my pouch, woman!"

Shego tried to pull her hand out of his grip, but his hold was like rock. He was strong, maybe stronger then her. Something Shego didn't come across often at all, since she herself was gifted with unnatural strength due to her own super powers. She was forced to break the grip by twisting against the thumb, rather then overpowering his fingers with brute force.

Another yellow burst shook the gearbox, both parties instinctively ducking lower.

"All right, now what do we do, sweetpea?" The man locked gazes with her. Shego suddenly noticed his eyes were not grey at all as the yellow light glinted off their irises. They were silver. Who has silver eyes?

"First thing, you call me sweetpea again and I am going to knock your teeth in," she snapped at the strange man. "Second thing, we have to work together on this if either of us wants to get out of here. Agreed?"

"Yeah, works for me," he said, ducking as the gearbox shuddered again. "What did you have in mind?"

"Ok, you distract it with your little spiderman routine, while I…"

"Woah, woah, woah," the man held up his hands. "I _distract_ it? Why don't you distract it?"

"Um, Hello? Flaming green hands of death, anyone? Just throwin' it out there."

"Oh come on, like you couldn't use those to…"

Just then, the gearbox trembled and lifted into the air. Holding the mangled piece of equipment over its head, the giant robot looked down on the two frozen thieves.

"_BOOP BEEP BEEP BOOP! HIDE AND SEEK SEQUENCE RUNTIME COMPLETION! ENGAGING THROUGHOUT BEATDOWN.EXE! BEEP BEEP BOOP BOOP!"_

The destroyed gearbox came crashing down with a tremendous smash, both Shego and the silver-eyed man leaping to either side. Dodging and weaving, the green woman managed to avoid one grasping metal claw as it reached for her. Spinning in the air as she jumped, she fired twin shots of plasma into the grasping monster. The concussive blasts staggered the robot slightly, but it hardly paused before taking another shuddering step towards her.

"_BEEP BOOP BOOP BOOP! PRIMARY THREAT ACQUIRED! REROOTING OBJECTIVE THROUGH SECONDARY BITCHSLAP PROTOCOL! BOOP BEEP BEEP BEEP!"_

"Aw hells," Shego muttered, as a giant robot foot came swinging her way.

* * *

A thousand miles away, terabytes of data from around the globe was being processed by one of the most advanced computer systems in the world. A bank of monitors bathed the room in perpetual twilight, supplying a constant stream of ever-changing information. One monitor was tracking a tropical storm off the Jamaican coast. Another was logging local police activity across the Midwest, jumping between counties in a matter of microseconds. Yet another fed a constant update on international most wanted lists from every country on earth. 

Seated before this vast array of equipment, the entire planet literally at his fingertips, was a young boy, casually sipping at a soda.

The young boy had just finished his doctoral thesis on mathematical computations, having spent little over an hour on it. Before that he had modified a leg razor to cut through steel using everyday household objects. And before that, he had hacked the Global Justice mainframe, just casually looking in on the status on a few minor supervillians.

It had been a slow night.

He had just decided to hit the sack when a chime sounded from one of the monitors. Practiced fingers danced over the keyboards with blinding speed, pulling up detailed information on a high-level crime in progress. It didn't matter that the information was encrypted on the highest channel, the young boy filtered through it as easily as he checked his email. Within moments, he had gathered the information he needed. He performed the last three keystrokes to call up a communication window almost without thought.

After a few seconds, a familiar face greeted him, sleep still in her eyes.

"Hey Wade, what's the sitch?"

* * *

Shego launched herself into the air as another laser blast exploded below her. Spinning and twisting, she landed cat-like on top of another crate. She was getting sick of crates. Jumping on crates, jumping behind crates, having crates thrown at her by the giant robot. All in all, she figured the room could do with a few less crates. The robot appeared to agree, as he tossed another one at her. 

She had just enough time to destroy the flying box as it descended upon her, flaming pieces of wood and metal peppering the air around her. Then she hurled a burning sphere of plasma at the walking machine itself. As usual, it shuddered under the assault, and then kept coming.

Shego cursed loudly, and then back flipped off the container, hopping and tumbling like an Olympic gymnast to put some distance between her and the robot. As she paused behind a bank of machinery to catch her breath, she wondered where the silver-eyed idiot had gone to.

"Jerk took off with that damn box," she snarled to herself, "and left _me_ here to deal with this crap." Not that Shego could blame him. It's what she would have done.

The robot's laser blew a significant hole in the machine bank. Enough that when Shego raised her head again, she could see straight through to the smoking arm cannon itself, still pointed in her direction. She saw the barrel begin to brighten as it prepared for another shot.

Uncharacteristically, Shego froze in place. Her only cognitive thought being that a laser blast was probably a pretty painful way to go. As such, she was in a perfect position to see a dark form skitter up the wall behind the massive robot, like some sort of man-sized lizard. The silver-eyed idiot then jumped backwards, flipping to land on the machine's raised arm and kicking off from it to land, tumbling to the ground. The momentum was enough to push the cannon off-target, as it fired wildly to the left of Shego. The near-miss snapped her out of the motionless state and she leaped wildly to her right.

The robot spun to seek out the new threat, scanning the ground where the man had landed. He had already hopped and rolled behind the behemoth, diving behind a flipped desk.

"_BOOP BOOP BOOP BEEP! PROCESSING THIRD WHEEL! INITIATING SYSTEM DEFRAG! BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!"_

With that, the robot began to thrash its clawed arms about wildly. Desks and machinery went flying into the walls. Shego, hidden behind a forklift, winced as the desk that the silver-eyed man had ducked behind was smashed to bits. He was probably roadkill.

Looking around for a way to salvage the situation, she tapped her fingers incessantly on the forklift. The tapping slowly came to a stop as she realized what she was hiding behind. With a wicked grin and graceful hop, she landed in the cab. The keys were waiting in the ignition.

The robot, still searching for the missing thieves didn't register any danger until its sensors detected the squeal of rubber tires behind it. It had just managed to turn around when two steel prongs driven by a propane engine smashed into its chest.

Even as the robot and forklift crashed and fell, Shego landed elegantly next to the destroyed desk, searching for the silver-eyed man. If she was lucky, Drakken's stupid shiny box would be in one piece, even if the idiot who took it wasn't. She wasn't totally thrilled with the prospect of finding a mangled body in the rubble, let alone having to search through its pockets. And though she wouldn't admit it to anyone, she hadn't wanted the silver-eyed man to die. Maybe both his legs to break, but not to die.

Shego grew increasingly concerned when she didn't find a body. She could still hear the robot thrashing behind her, and she knew that _someone_ would be on there way to investigate by now, and deep down she knew exactly who it would be. Growing impatient yet again, she tossed a piece of the desk over.

"Where are you, you freaking weirdo?" She growled. Once again, a male voice from nowhere had her spinning around.

"That was _nuts_!" The black-clad man came sliding down the wall, facing Shego with a grin. "I gotta say, sweetpea, that was an _awesome_ move with the forklift."

Shego, more shocked then anything that the grinning idiot was still alive, had enough mindset to say, "I told you not to call me sweetpea," before she lit her hand with green flames. "Now give me that box."

The sliding man came to a sudden stop, three feet from the ground. His grin vanished just as quickly. "Oh now, come on. Let's be reasonable here. I've got a major client looking for one of these," he tapped his utility pouch. "It's not like you can just pick one up at the Radio Shack. It's worth a fair chunk of change."

"I've got my own… _client_," Shego responded, "and he wants the thing _tonight_. For… uh, I'm not really sure what, but it's probably pretty devious."

"Lets make a deal here," the man's smile returned and he slid the rest of the way to the floor. "We can split the profit, 50-50. I don't know about you're buyer's cost, but mine would still be a pretty sweet deal cut in half."

Shego didn't want to tell the thief that she wasn't being paid for the device and that she was just a henchman doing her job for Drakken, though the idea of making a lot of money appealed to her greatly. But Shego wasn't about to let the silver-eyed man win that way. It had become a competition to her, like so many times before. Shego never gave in. Shego never compromised.

However, Shego did often lie.

"Ok," she smiled at the silver-eyed man as her hand extinguished itself. "Let's make a deal." She put her hands on her shapely hips and waited for the idiot. His eyes narrowed suspiciously at her, but he slowly relaxed under her sensuous gaze. She noticed him glancing down at her body, trying to be discreet. She grit her teeth, barely holding her smile.

"Ah, all right then," the man cleared his throat. "Partners then." He smiled and held out his hand. "My name is Cutter. Chris Cutter. Pleased to, uh, make you're acquaintance."

Shego looked him up and down. It was only fair, after he shamelessly ogled her. She had to admit that he wasn't exactly hard on the eyes. His figure-hugging black clothes displayed an impressive muscle tone. But then he would need one to bounce off the walls like the idiot he was. Her gaze climbing back up to his carved face, she found that he was staring at her with a tightness around his strange silver eyes. So he didn't liked being ogled at, huh? Serves him right.

Just then she realized that he still had his hand extended towards her. She had forgotten it while looking at him.

"Uh… right," She reached for his hand. "Shego. But then you knew that already." As they gripped hands, Shego prepared herself to pull him into an arm lock, intending to forcefully take the device.

But they had been ignoring the robot.

With a grinding steel-on-steel screech, the forklift came flying over the thieves' heads. The robot, with two sparking and smoking holes neatly punched into its chest, came shuddering to tower over them.

"_BZZT POP ZURK BOOP! ERROR! QUICK DEATH.DLL NOT FOUND! ILLEGAL STACK DUMP IN PROGRESS! BZRK KRAK ZARK BZZK!"_

Twin clawed arms came smashing down.

The impact shook the room and would have completely annihilated both parties had they not deftly escaped. Shego tumbled hand over foot, nimbly flipping in a series of leaps to land neatly facing the robot, hands already engulfed in green fire. The man named Cutter twisted sideways in midair to run along the wall face, bouncing off with one hand to land crouched on all four limbs.

The robot was immediately assaulted by a hail of green plasma, causing it to shudder and quake, but with little other effect. Shego blinked in surprise as a desk came sailing overhead to smash into the giant. She turned to see Cutter busy picking up another whole desk and, with a grunt, hurl it at the robot. It stood impassively as the heavy office implement simply bounced off its shoulder. Cutter smiled sheepishly at Shego, who frowned in response, before releasing another flood of green energy.

The robot came stomping forward, its steps less calculated and more shambling. Long arms swung wildly, obliterating anything unfortunate enough to be in their path. The thing was much more chaotic and destructive since its chest piercing and Shego just seemed to be annoying it. Cutter, on the other hand, was completely useless as far as she could see.

"I think we need to regroup there, sweetpea!" Cutter shouted as he backpedaled. "You're not doing anything with those flaming boogers of yours!"

Shego ground her teeth in anger and stood her ground. Flaming boogers? That jackass! The flames surrounding her fists swelled and leapt with her fury. She'd show him flaming boogers! Her hands came together in front of her as the robot loomed.

"I told you," she snarled, "don't – call – me – SWEETPEA!" A blinding storm came forth, its roar filling the bay and bathing everything in green. The ground sizzled and the air vibrated with energy. Slamming into the giant robot, its arm was blown straight off.

As the flood subsided, Shego stood surrounded by smoking black ruin, panting through clenched teeth. Cutter stood frozen, a few dozen feet back. His mouth was wide open.

The robot also stood motionless, looking at its lost arm. But it was a robot, after all, and it felt no pain at the loss. With a sudden noisy whirl, its remaining arm snapped out and snatched Shego off the ground.

Kicking and cursing, the green woman clawed at the robotic grip with sharpened metal nails, leaving deep furrows in the offending steel. Behind her, she heard the silver-eyed idiot shout, but she was too preoccupied to care. Her hands glowed, adding extra damage to her thrashing, but not enough to break the hold. Shego could only yell in fury as the massive arm raised high into the air, preparing to shatter her bones on the floor. Her scream was defiant. Never had the idea to give up entered her mind.

With blurring speed, Cutter came flying feet-first into the robot's domed head. The resulting impact snapped the robot backwards and interrupted Shego's decent.

Reaching out with one arm as he cart wheeled off of the kick, Cutter grabbed onto the robot itself. As the sentry righted itself the dark man skipped along the robot's surface, swinging around under one side to dash up the extended arm to where Shego remained caught.

"Hold on," he shouted as he came to a crouched stop beside her, "I'm going to-nngh!" He grunted as he pulled at the thick metal claw. The thing groaned under the strain but would not release. "A little help here?"

"What do you think I've been doing, you bouncing freak?" Shego roared at him. Her brightly glowing fist came down hard on the claw's oiled hinge; the force shuddered the whole arm and almost caused Cutter to loose his grip with a yelp.

The robot's head spun to look at them. If anything it looked… angry. Maybe it was just the big dent on its forehead.

The arm began to swing wildly trying to dislodge Cutter, who barely managed to stay hanging on. Back and forth, back and forth in high speed. Shego began to feel sick, and moaned loudly when the arm came to sudden stop.

Instantly seizing the momentary pause, Cutter leapt to the robot's shoulder. He danced a full circuit around its head, the dome swiveling to follow him, before scuttling down its back. The machine, busily trying to follow the annoyance crawling around its body, ignored Shego in its vice-grip. Clearing her head and focusing her power, she narrowed the green plasma into a cutting beam and started the slow task of freeing herself.

Meanwhile, Cutter swung between metal legs to come hanging from the robot's chest. His hands gripped one of the smoking forklift holes and pulled with a loud grunt. The thick metal skin screamed and slowly peeled back, exposing an assortment of sparking wires and pumping pneumatics. Cutter reached in and tried pulling at the inner workings, hoping to disrupt something. What he got was a vicious shock as he accidentally grabbed a high voltage artery.

The robot, sensing danger, swung its remaining arm, complete with screaming Shego, into its chest. Cutter, still reeling from the shock, barely managed to avoid being squished. Even so, he was uncomfortably pinned between Shego's torso and the unyielding metal.

"Are you trying to get me killed?" Shego yelled as she struggled to free her hand and shoulder from pushing against Cutter's chest. His face, mere inches from her own, twisted into a snarl.

"I'm trying to rescue you, you ungrateful witch!" His silver eyes sparkled dangerously as he pushed against the pinning claw with his one free hand. "Maybe if you listened to me when I said to regroup…"

"I don't need rescuing!" Shego barked. "And none of this would have happened if you hadn't stuck your stupid nose in my business!"

Cutter snarled, almost ferally. Shego swore she saw pointed canines in his grimace. Veins popped out along his neck and powerful arms as he pushed the claw inch by inch away from himself. Who was this freak?

The metal arm suddenly pulled itself away from the robot's chest. The unexpected freedom caused Cutter's eyes to widen in surprise as he stumbled forward, falling to the floor. Shego saw him land in a satisfyingly clumsy tumble and then resumed cutting into the vice that held her.

The robot stomped on the ground, trying to dispatch the dodging and rolling man. Cutter, still off balance, scrambled to escape. The pursuit grew more dogged as the behemoth seemed to grow less calculating, and more frenzied in its stomping. The machine was rampaging out of control.

Liquid metal dripped to the floor as Shego's focused beam cut three quarters of the way through the clamping claw. With an angry grunt she brought her glowing fist down on the weakened metal, snapping it off with an explosive hit. She dropped to the ground and rolled out of the machine's path. It seemed to ignore her freedom in its single-minded pursuit of the dancing Cutter. Shego stood, weighing her options.

Her first thought was to get the hell out of the complex. She wasn't going to get a better opportunity to escape with the robot mindlessly rampaging after the hard-pressed man. Her second thought was how she was going to explain to Drakken that she didn't get the stupid box he wanted, not that she really cared if he threw a temper tantrum over it. Her third thought surprised her.

Looking around, she tried to think of a way to help Cutter. The man was a bouncing idiot, but he had risked his neck for her. That counted for something with Shego. Plus, she had to respect his tenacity, something she herself was highly possessed of. Writing it off as a professional courtesy, Shego decided to save his butt.

Her eyes settled on something she had forgotten, of which she was disappointed with herself for. Six graceful strides and a roll over a desk had her standing next to the object of her attention.

The laser cannon.

Impatiently removing it from the tripod with a glowing chop, she easily hoisted the massive weapon onto her shoulder. It seemed to dwarf her, but she managed to find its balance. She sprinted out from behind the workstation to get a clear line of sight, coming to a skidding stop. Across the bay, the rampaging robot had pinned a dark form against the concrete wall. She could see Cutter pushing back, trying to keep from being finally crushed by the mangled robot arm. He was losing.

Shego anxiously pressed buttons and turned knobs. She heard the cannon begin to hum and vibrate next to her ear. It beeped at her and she felt warmth pulsing against her cheek.

"Come on, come on. How do you shoot this frigging..." she squeezed a hand-shaped plunger along the weapon's length. A low-pitched keen began and climbed into the higher octaves as the cannon grew hotter. Shego braced herself and took aim.

A white hot light erupted from the cannon's barrel and streaked across the room, leaving dark afterimages in her vision. She had to push to keep from being blown backwards by the wailing beam, her hair whipping about her head wildly from a vortex of whistling drafts. Almost as quickly as it began, the light was gone. Shego was left blinking, trying to clear her eyes.

Across the bay, the robot still stood with its pinning arm against the wall. However, a glowing five-foot hole had been neatly cut straight through its center, as though with a giant hole punch. Almost in slow motion, the robot teetered and fell over backwards to crash on the floor with a great shudder. Shego was more then a little relieved to see Cutter's dark head cautiously rise out of the rubble to peer at her. His face looked a little red, as though sun burnt.

"That was nuts." Was all he said.

Shego lowered the heavy weapon. She saw an LCD printout along its side read; CHARGE DEPLETED. One shot? That's all it could do? She guessed there was no point in trying to steal the weapon for herself and dropped the cannon unceremoniously on the floor.

Cutter came stumbling through the debris, smoke rising from the leather straps on his shirt. Despite looking worse for wear, his stupid grin was almost infectious. Of course, Shego had not forgotten her job. Not even for a second, she told herself.

"That had to be one of the coolest things I've _ever_ seen, sweetpea," the silver-eyed man gushed. "It was all, like, pffshooo!" His arm shot out, tracing the path of the laser. "And you were all, like, Miss Badass with the giant gun. Totally nuts!"

"Yeah," Shego didn't smile. "I'm Miss Badass."

"I mean… wow." He stood staring at the smoking hole in the wall were the laser had continued through the robot. Shego looked down at the utility pouch hanging off his thigh as he continued to speak. "We'd better get out of here before the National Guard comes or something."

She came up behind him, silent as a fox.

The box had come half way out of his pouch by the time Cutter spun around to grab her. It went flying into the air as Shego spun to kick out with her right leg, reaching out to catch it as it fell.

Cutter was quicker then she expected and caught her by the ankle with both hands. He rotated and her entire body spun in the air like a corkscrew. She was prepared, however, and connected with her second foot into his shoulder as he desperately raised it to protect his head. He stumbled sideways as she landed on her hands to flip herself upright, her hands aflame. Cutter regained his balance instantly and regarded her with a cold expression, further enhanced by his shining eyes.

The box had landed between them.

"I thought we had come to an… agreement," the dark man spoke with a dead voice. All levity had completely disappeared from his face. He simply looked… dangerous. But Shego didn't flinch. She had more danger in her little finger.

"Sorry, champ," she allowed herself a cold smirk, "I don't make deals."

Cutter watched her for a moment. "I'm sorry to hear that." He sounded disappointed. Then he ducked with blinding speed for the box.

Shego reacted instantly, swinging her burning hand down to disrupt his grab. Instead, he griped her wrist again, this time strong enough to threaten snapping it. In response, she forced the green plasma in her hand to brighten and grow with power. He retracted his hand with a hiss of pain and kicked out with a bare foot at the device. It went skidding across the floor.

Shego swung her glowing hands in a series of quick jabs and thrusts, all of which Cutter dodged and avoided. This was growing infuriatingly familiar to Shego. So she decided to change it.

She went in a low push forward which Cutter read like a book, twisting to compensate. Instead, she reversed and leapt backwards, leaving him frozen and confused. At least until he noticed the glowing ball of green plasma she had left in front of him.

The explosion sent him flying into a storage cabinet.

Shego made a beeline for the shiny box. She had seen it slide under a rolling cart. However, she was forced to duck as several heavy pieces of high-tech equipment came sailing her way. Cutter was crouched over the flipped cabinet, reaching down and pulling out anything handy to throw. Once Shego hit the floor, he bounded across the floor on two limbs and four, crossing the gap with shocking speed.

Shego leapt up and collided with the Cutter in midair, her shoulder sending him reeling to the ground. She managed to land in a roll next to the cart, which she quickly pushed out of her way. Her hand was reaching for the device when the cart came flying back at her, kicked out by a supine Cutter. Shego and the cart went rolling together into a desk.

A deft snap of his legs had Cutter standing. Shego was also back on her feet in a matter of seconds. Once again, they faced each other with the shiny metal box between them. This time, Cutter was much closer then her. There was no doubt that he could snatch it up before Shego could reach him. She expected him to go for it, but then he surprised her.

"The offer still stands." Cutter made no move towards the box, though his body was a coiled spring. "50-50 on a nuclear capacitor switch. You could do worse."

"Nuclear capacitor switch," Shego repeated with a snort. "What does that even do? It sounds like it was just made up."

Cutter actually laughed at that. "Yeah. Like it was contrived. I was thinking the same thing." His smile disappeared and he watched her warily. "You won't get it, you know. I'm offering you a draw here. Think about it, sweetpea."

Shego did think about it. She knew she couldn't get the device, not unless she completely vaporized the silver-eyed man before he reached it. Drakken's own stupid scheme didn't matter to her, and sharing in the profit selling the device would definitely make her some good money. A draw seemed like the most profitable idea. It had been a good fight. An enjoyable fight. And Shego always loved a good fight.

But Shego never gave in, and a draw seemed too much like losing to her.

Green death shot from her hands. Cutter reacted almost at the same moment, his speed almost too fast to watch, diving for the silver box. One last ditch attempt to steal the object.

He was too slow.

The smoke cleared and Shego let her hands extinguish in an audible _poof_.

Cutter crouched over a small blackened crater. Inside sat a gleaming shape of metal. The device had melted into an almost stone-shaped mass half its original size. It was completely useless to anyone.

Cutter looked up at Shego. She expected him to be angry, which he was a little, but he also looked confused.

"Why did you do that?" He asked her, still crouched over the crater. "We could have both made money. Now everybody loses."

"Exactly," Shego muttered, mostly to herself. "Nobody wins."

Cutter stared at her with those strange silver eyes. His expression was unreadable. He made no move to get up.

The sound of a helicopter overhead snapped both thieves into action.

Shego sprinted out the way she came in, through the giant blast doors. She didn't see where Cutter escaped to and she told herself that she didn't really care. She had had enough action for one evening without dealing with the person who was undoubtedly jumping out off the helicopter above her. Through the complex and into the night she disappeared.

No one noticed her.

* * *

Only minutes after Shego's exit another, younger, woman entered the research bay through the open blast doors. She pushed red hair out of her face and surveyed the destruction before her. Her thin eyebrows rose in surprise even as a young man came stumbling in beside her. 

"Ugh, KP!" The blonde boy groaned, "I think I burnt my pants on the lasers!" Sure enough, a neat black hole was burnt into the seat of his combat pants. A small hairless rodent leaned out of his pocket to cough up black smoke with a frown.

"I told you, Ron," Kim Possible sighed, "wait for Wade to deactivate the laser grid _before_ you followed me. You could have been toasted."

"Hey, no fair! Just because you can jump through the lasers doesn't mean I should sit and wait! Oh, and nice finish on that by the way, was that an Ellerslie Dixie twist I saw?"

"Oh, it was no big," Kim shrugged with a smile before frowning back into the room. "But we'd better focus on the mission, Ron."

Ron Stoppable turned and saw the room for the first time. He let out a low whistle as they slowly wandered through the debris.

"The whole place is _trashed_! Man… this is worse then my eighth birthday party when my dad hired circus performers, and let me tell you, nothing makes a mess like and elephant with an intestinal infection."

Kim Possible leaned down to examine some familiar-looking scorch marks. "It looks like we missed it all. But I think I have a lead on our villain."

"Hey, Kim! Check this out! It's a giant robot!"

Kim opened a small device out of her pocket and pressed a button. A young boy's face appeared in the screen. "Wade, I need you to scan this residue. Tell me if it looks familiar."

"Ah man, the thing is busted! How lame is that? I bet if I had some sort of remote control I could get it to dance or something."

The small device in Kim's hand hummed and a line of blue light ran the length of the burn mark. "Looks like you're on the right track," the device spoke, "it's definitely Shego. Plasma fingerprint matches."

"Hey Kim, check it out! I'm doing the robot! Domo arigato… Mr. Roboto!"

"I thought so," Kim Possible frowned. "We need to figure out what she stole. Can you check the inventory, Wade? I'm going to interview some of the scientists who work here. It'll probably have to wait until tomorrow, though."

"Done and done," the young face in the Kimunicator said. "You might as well go back to bed while they sort through this mess. It'll take a while."

"Great. I have a history test tomorrow and I need the nappage." She stood up from the ground and turned to see Ron performing robotic dance moves on top of the collapsed machine. "Come on, Ron. We're all done here."

"Aww, we just got here!" The young man pouted as he slid down the side of the massive robot, nearly falling on his face as he landed. "You'd think the villains would have the courtesy to stay long enough to say 'hi' or something. What a gyp."

"Maybe we'll be lucky tomorrow," Kim said sarcastically. She never considered Shego lucky. "I'll make it up to you then with Bueno Nacho."

"Booya!" Ron raised a fist in joy. "We're outta here!" His call was echoed by his small companion, still dancing on his shoulder.

* * *

The bay was empty and silent. Twisted machinery littered the floor. Wood, metal and plastic pieces were sprinkled everywhere. Burn marks and melted material left a foul smell in the air. Tables and desks were overturned, equipment was smashed, and there was a giant broken robot lying in a heap. Very little could be called 'salvageable' among this devastation. 

Somewhere in the middle of the room, a silver-eyed man seemed to flow out of the shadows. The dim light glinted off his irises as he smoothly made his way towards a particular spot in the bay. He made not a sound.

Coming to a stop, he stood over a small black crater on the floor. He stared at the metal lump seated in the hole. Minutes passed.

Finally, he lowed slowly to pick up the object. He held it in his hand gingerly, running his fingers over its smooth surface. It really was shaped like a metallic stone. It still felt warm to the touch.

With a fond smile, the dark man placed the shining stone in his pocket.

"Later, sweetpea."

END: Part One

_I will continue this behemoth eventually, as soon as I decide where I want to fit in the continuity (pre or post STD, in particular). I still want to see what S4 has in store, too. _


	2. Part Two: Engineering A Reversal

Kim Possible: Secret Shame Saga

Release Notes:

Ok, I have figured out that the timeline is post STD and most of Season 4 (the parts I want to focus on, anyway).

Of course, since S4 is still airing at the time that I write this, I may very well reference newer episodes as I see them, later in the story, if I can make them make sense without major recon. All in all, the overall story I wanted to tell shouldn't be too effected by the season (unless they, like, killed off Drakken or something in the finale). And that was a joke. Ha ha. No? Well I thought it was mildly amusing.

Anyways… I ended up splitting this second part into two because of how it ended up coming together. It seemed like I came to a natural conclusion sooner then I expected, so I decided to run with it.

Once again… in case you care. I know I don't.

The Author.

* * *

PART TWO: Engineering A Reversal

On a secret island in the middle of the sea, there stood a secret castle in which secret plans were hatched by a devious mind.

Lightning lit the perpetually night sky into which climbed the towering fortress that stood, carved out of the very mountain itself. To look upon its imposing visage was to know terror. To traverse the twisted, booby-trapped trail and stand before its massive gates was to know total defeat. To wonder its perilous hallways and witness the multitude of malevolent machines that promised global domination was to know true despair.

To stand in the same room as its all powerful master, was to know mild amusement.

"Aaaarrgh!" Screamed the blue-skinned man. He hopped up and down like an angry child, wiggling his small, black-gloved hands. "Shego! I need that device! How can you not have it? I wanted it _tonight_!"

The woman named Shego lounged in her favorite chair, her feet resting casually on the massive control panel that monitored all aspects of the secret lair. She ran a nail file over her gloved fingers, sharpening the metal claws into deadly tips. Her emerald eyes never raised to look at the stomping evil genius before her.

"Look, Dr. D, I already told you," her smooth voice sounded nothing but bored, "they were all out. I checked the inventory and there were none in stock."

Dr. Drakken ground his teeth loudly and pulled at his thin black hair in frustration. With a final growl, he set into a sulking pace around the dark, cave-like room. He held his arms behind his blue overcoat as he spoke.

"Very well," he droned, "it would seem that I have no choice but to fall back on my second contingency plan." He raised his fist manically. "I will order the part from a second hand surplus supplier! The quality won't be as good, but then, you get what you pay for."

Shego didn't point out that Drakken wouldn't have paid anything at all if she had managed to steal the device. In fact, she didn't tell Drakken a lot about what had happened earlier in the evening. Shego didn't dwell in the past. So she told herself.

"But that still leaves me with three important pieces missing from my fiendish puzzle. Shego!" He whirled on the black and green clad woman. "Are you listening to me?"

"Mmhm, yeah," Shego raised her hand to inspect, "fiendish puzzle. Nice one, Dr D."

"For I need three other parts for my latest villainous device," he tapped at the control panel, pulling up a detailed schematic on the giant screen. "_The Reverse Engineering Ray!_"

Shego raised her eyebrows at that. "The _what_?"

"With this ray," he continued ranting as though she hadn't spoke, "I will be able to reverse engineer anything back into its previous form! Ergo, I can blast the entire planet back into the stone age!" Drakken laughed manically, both fists raised into the air. "There is only one thing that can stand in my way..."

"Common sense?"

"Kim Possible!" Drakken shouted. "And so it will be my teenage nemesis that shall feel the terrible trial of my Reverse Engineering Ray _first_!" He wrung his hands eagerly. "I will de-evolve that meddling girl into a Neanderthal with a brain the size of a walnut!"

"You know," Shego stretched her hands behind her head, "this is starting to sound like a Monkey Fist plot to me."

Drakken raised his eyebrows. "Really? You think so?"

"Yeah," she shrugged her shoulders, "the whole de-evolving people into monkeys bit would be right up his alley."

"Hmm," Drakken rubbed his chin, "what if I de-evolved her into… some primordial goo or something? Would that be more my shtick?"

Shego winced and shrugged her shoulders again. In truth, the idea of turning her rival into sludge didn't sit as well with her as it used to. Not that it would ever actually happen. It _was_ Drakken, after all.

"So be it!" Drakken's speech became grandiose again. "I will reverse engineer Kim Possible into a teenaged puddle of slime! Then no one will be able to stop me!"

"Mmm… great," Shego rolled her eyes, "what do you want me to steal, already?"

"Ah, I'm glad you asked." He pulled a crumpled piece of paper out of his coat. "I have here a list of all the pieces I need and where they can be found." Shego took the smeared paper with a grimace. "I trust you'll be more successful with _these_ items then your last one."

She read the list with a snort. "It shouldn't be a problem." She crumpled the paper and tossed it over her shoulder.

"Shego!" Drakken admonished. "Don't throw evil plans on the floor! A clean lair is a happy lair."

"Whatever, Dr. D," the green-skinned woman stood, "I'm going to go get your grocery list." She pointed an accusing finger at him. "Don't get foiled while I'm gone." She spun and walked out of the room with a flourish of black hair. Drakken huffed angrily before turning back to his plotting, mumbling about sidekicks knowing their place.

He did not notice a shadowy hand reach out from behind the control panel to carefully swipe the crumpled note on the floor.

* * *

The lunch bell rang at Middleton high school. Along its hallways, students roamed, chatted and made their way to the cafeteria. Few of the teens that frequented the corridor could be called memorable. In truth, some may say they were mostly two-dimensional. But there was one young woman who stood out. 

Kim Possible breathed a resolved sigh as she exited her history class. She pushed red hair out of her green eyes and adjusted the collection of books she held with one arm. Toned and athletic, she was in peak physical form. She knew 16 forms of kung fu and was an Olympic level gymnast. She had faced any number of deadly adversaries and beaten overwhelming odds many times over the course of her career as a freelance superhero. Nevertheless, she shuddered at the thought of the history exam she had just written. More fiendishly designed then any world domination plot; she thought she would be lucky to get an A-.

A familiar strident voice and gentle touch on her shoulder instantly brightened her mood.

"Booyah!" Ron Stoppable's blond head seemed to pop out of nowhere. "I tell ya, KP, I aced that history test! Oh yeah! Just call me, _The__Historinator_!" Even as he spoke the made-up word, it was echoed by a high-pitched assertion in his pocket. Rufus, the naked mole rat, gave a clawed thumb up.

"Really Ron?" Kim cocked an eyebrow at her lifetime friend. "I thought it was pretty hard. Like, what about question four? Talk about convoluted."

"Oh _please_, Kim," Ron dismissed her concern, "it was a synch. Colonel Mustard in the library with the candlestick."

"Uh, Ron," Kim's brow furrowed, "Colonel Mustard didn't serve during the American Civil War."

"Yeah? Well, I prefer to let the _grades_ do the talking, thank you. We'll see who knows his stuff in one week."

"Riight…" the teenage girl smiled sarcastically as they reached her locker, "we will see." Opening the door to the locker revealed a computer screen piled in amongst her school textbooks and binders into which Kim deposited her history notes. Almost the instant the locker was open the monitor came to life with a young, freckled face.

"Hey Wade," Kim greeted the child genius, "any news on the break-in last night?"

"A little," Wade responded, even then working the multitude of high-tech equipment that surrounded him in his room. "It's a real mess down there. Looks like Shego activated their experimental automated security system."

"The giant robot?" Ron chimed in, leaning over Kim's shoulder to see the screen. The young woman couldn't help but smile at the familiarity. She didn't know what she would do without the bumbling Ron Stoppable. He had been a kind of sidekick (though she never called him that) in her superhero career, helping her save the world in his own clumsy way. But he was so much more to her. He was her best friend.

"Yep," Wade nodded, "from what they can tell so far, the thing went ballistic and rampaged through the facility after Shego. Must have been a heck of a fight."

"Looks like she won." Kim sighed. "They don't know what she was up to yet?"

"Not yet," Wade shrugged. "There's a lot they have to account for before they can tell what's missing."

"All right, we'll go talk to the scientists after school. Maybe someone there can tell us something. In the meantime," she reached over to hold Ron's hand, "we've got a lunch date in the cafeteria."

"Yeah," Ron smiled at his childhood friend turned girlfriend, "nothing says romance like mystery meat on a stick."

The teen couple strolled hand in hand to the dining hall to face the evils of the school menu.

* * *

Shego could have broken into the National Engineering Center in her sleep. Compared to the research complex she had gotten into last night, it was almost dull. 

She didn't even concern herself that it was the middle of the day and that she was one of the most recognized super criminals on the planet. Strolling through the hallways in her signature green and black jumpsuit, her curved and athletic build did not even stir the concentrating inventors from their various testing and soldering. She almost felt insulted.

She paused to watch one middle-aged man carefully fuse tiny circuits together on a silicon board. His balding head was beaded with perspiration and his movements were slow and precise. His eyes were focused on the task at hand. The exotic pale-green woman watching him through the lab window might has well have been a janitor.

Shego could not imagine having the patience to do something like that. Building something so complex and fickle from nothing and following it through to completion. It made her anxious just thinking about it. Creating was never one of her strong suites… at least not since childhood. She looked at her hands, gloved fingertips coming to clawed points that could cut steel. With a thought, she could bring forth burning green plasma from these hands that could be hurled with devastating results. They were not instruments made for creating. Shego was a tool of destruction.

She sighed and shook her head angrily. Shego didn't dwell in the past.

Continuing along, the green thief was mostly ignored by the busy engineers. A few passed her in the hallway, reading graphs or scribbling notes, completely absorbed in their work. She actually had to reach out and grab one by the collar.

"Hi," she said pleasantly, "I'm looking for something. Maybe you can help me."

The tweedy little man in a striped, short-sleeved, button-up shirt, complete with pocket protector, looked at her face in surprise. Then he looked at her form-fitting outfit with wide eyes, pausing in places Shego thought he shouldn't.

"Hey, buddy," she lifted him easily, "my eyes are up here."

"Oh yes, of course," the man mumbled apologetically, "we don't have many… _visitors_ come through the labs. How can I be of assistance?" Shego smiled wickedly and the little man squeaked.

"I'm looking for something called the Quantum Matrix Amplifier," she explained, "do you know where it is?"

The engineer seemed to straighten at the name. "The QuantMat Amp?" He sputtered. "That's one of our most advanced devices! If it were to fall into the wrong hands…"

Shego's free hand began to glow like fire. Green plasma dripped and burnt the ground with a telling hiss.

"Consider these the wrong hands." Her smile was cold.

The little man's eyes looked ready to roll onto the floor. He nodded emphatically and pointed down the hall. Shego pushed him roughly as he led the way to a locked steel door. A small keypad glowed with a red light.

"Do you know the pin number?" Shego asked the man. She probably knew three different ways she could open the door herself, but why waste a perfectly good resource? The little man swallowed loudly and nodded. He talked to himself as he pressed the buttons.

"I don't understand the sudden interest in the Amp," he mumbled. "Its existence has been public for months. Why everyone wants it _now_…" Something clicked in Shego's head and she grabbed the engineer by the ear.

"Wait a minute…" she frowned at him, "what do you mean by _everyone wants it now_?"

"A man just came through here a little while ago!" The squeaking man was quick to explain. "He was asking questions about the QuantMat Amp, just like you. I told him where we kept it and he thanked me. He wasn't dressed like he belonged here either."

Shego got a cold feeling in her stomach. She pushed the engineer out of the way and he skidded along the floor before coming to a stop six feet from where he had stood. Her hands burst into roaring green flames and she used them to punch a hole through the door lock. A single mightly kick had the door swinging off its hinges.

Shego took three running steps into the bright white room and froze where she stood.

Hanging upside down from a conveniently located air vent was a man with black hair and silver eyes. He wore a familiar black sleeveless shirt. Directly below him stood a metal pedestal surrounded by what she knew were pressure plates, undoubtedly linked to the building's alarm system. The man's one arm was hanging below his head. In it he held a paper-sized piece of silicone and microcircuitry. The man was frozen, staring at her just as she stared at him. Then his upside down face slowly crept into an upside down smile.

"Hello, sweetpea."

Shego bared her teeth in a snarl at the mention of that word and her flaming palms swelled and crackled with her anger.

"Cutter!" She spat the name of the intruding thief. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Same as you, I'd guess," the smirking man said, "stealing the Quantum Matrix Amplifier for an important… _client_." His eyes narrowed at her over the word 'client'. They widened back to normal almost immediately. "I guess this is just bad luck on our part. Well... for _you_, anyway. Once again, I got it first."

Shego growled in growing fury and took a step forward, intending to melt the man's arrogant face.

"Ah…" Cutter gripped the object with both hands. "I'd hate to have to break this expensive device. That way, _nobody_ wins. As I seem to recall."

Shego stopped moving. She didn't want to lose her goal twice in a row. Last night, she had fought Cutter for another stolen high-tech gadget but hadn't been able to get it from him. So she melted it into a metal blob just so _he_ couldn't have it either. Now he was interfering with her latest job out of revenge. She could hardly say she knew the man, but she hadn't thought he would be so petty.

"What do you want, you idiot?" She asked through a clenched jaw, knowing full well that she couldn't possibly get the Amp from him in one piece. She knew from last night that he was too fast to take down before he could snap the object in two.

"What do I want?" Cutter's face seemed to soften at that. "Well…" He stared at Shego, seemingly debating something in his own mind. Shego's eyes narrowed in suspicion. What kind of game was this bouncing freak playing? After a moment's pause, Cutter's eyes hardened again and he smiled grimly. "I guess I want to get paid."

With that, Cutter snorted deeply through his nose. Shego grimaced in disgust as he continued horking and working up phlegm at the back of his throat. Finally, he stopped the disgusting display and winked at Shego.

Then he spat on the floor.

Shego understood instantly as the alarms started screaming throughout the building. She launched a handful of plasma at the retreating Cutter. He was already inside the air vent and the blast exploded into the wall. She knew from experience she would not catch him in the vents. He was seemingly inhuman in his agility. And as the distant wail of police sirens grew, she knew she had to focus on her own escape.

As Shego sprinted down the hallway, past the cowering engineer, she had a look of pure malice painted on her face.

* * *

Ten or fifteen men in white lab coats moved through the debris in the giant room. Several carried note pads onto which they scribbled notes, often times shaking their heads in resignation as they did so. Others rolled up their sleeves and dug through the twisted machinery searching for missing pieces. Very few of them looked the least bit pleased with what they found. Some managed to salvage the odd scrap from their respective experimental projects, but by and large most would have to start over from scratch. 

Kim Possible glanced at the armed guards, standing like statues around the blast doors. She had needed to pull a favor, through Wade's contacts, to get access into the building. The first time, when the scope of the crime hadn't been established yet, it had been easy. Now that the facility big-wigs knew that a super criminal had so easily bypassed their automated security and thoroughly trashed the place, they had decided to hire guards.

Not that Kim could blame them. It looked like someone had set off a bomb in the room. Very little had been left unscathed, the one notable exception being the vending machine.

"Ah! No fair!" Ron Stoppable yelled as he kicked the machine. "It ate my quarters! You know what this means Rufus." He narrowed his eyes as he spoke to the fleshy rodent on his shoulder. "Operation: Candy Grab!" The Naked Mole Rat stood stiffly and saluted his large companion before leaping at the machine's outlet. "Be brave, soldier. And be sure to take prisoners!"

Kim smiled fondly and turned back to the grey-haired scientist she had been interviewing as he tapped deftly at a laptop computer.

"So what exactly does this device do, that you can't find?" She queried the frowning man. He had been scouring the updated system inventory for missing parts as they had been found. Practically everything had been accounted for, except one thing.

"The Nuclear Capacitor Switch," the man adjusted his glasses, "stores nuclear wavelengths and reverses their polarity through the cross-dimension principle. It's really a simple little device."

"Uh huh," Kim cocked an eyebrow, "sounds simple enough. The big question is: why would Drakken want one?" She put on a pensive frown.

"It's nearly impossible to say," the scientist shrugged, "we use the Switch for any number of machines. Why… I believe we used one in our cafeteria microwave."

Kim raised her eyebrows at that. "You put one in you're microwave?"

"Yes," the man smiled, "really beefed up our leftovers. Could cook a turkey in that thing in two minutes."

"Right," Kim shook her head. "Anything else you guys found?"

"Well, actually…" the scientist stood up with a groan, "the boys noticed something interesting when they downloaded the post-mortem data from the XL-33T."

"The giant robot?" She looked across the room to where several men were examining the collapsed metal sentinel.

"Oh yes," the grey-haired man followed her gaze. "It seemed that the XL was tracking two separate intruders before it went crazy." He scratched his wrinkled head. "One of them was classified as a level one threat: extremely aggressive with potential for massive physical damage. We assume that is the one who ultimately destroyed it."

"Shego," Kim sighed. "She's a level one threat all right. I guess the other one would have been Drakken. He probably hid behind a desk or something until it was over."

"That's the interesting part," the man caught her eyes, "the second intruder was upgraded by the XL from a class four, which is a non-combative, to a class _two_, which is a threat with potential for medium-to-high physical damage. Apparently, the XL registered several impacts from the second intruder to warrant the promotion."

Kim frowned at that. Drakken was many things, but a level two threat to a giant rampaging robot of mass destruction he was not. Shego must have been working with someone then, but who? She was notoriously a loner. Maybe Senor Senior, Jr. She had worked with him a couple times in the past, but he was hardly someone who could threaten the robot.

It was an important riddle that needed to be solved. Kim had to know if she was dealing with a new villain team-up. She really hated those. Besides, Shego was enough of an issue on her own, for various reasons.

"Ok, thanks," Kim shook the scientist's hand, "you'll let us know if anything else comes up?"

"Of course," the older man smiled, "thank you, Miss Possible."

"No big." She smiled and made her way over to her partner. Ron was crouched over the vending machine's access hole, waiting with bated breath.

"Come on, little buddy," he clenched his fists, "come on home…"

Rufus's pink head popped out of the machine with a flourish. In his clawed hands he held not one, but two chocolate bars.

"Booya!" Ron cheered. "Atta boy, Rufus! You'da man!"

"_Ahem_," Kim cleared her voice pointedly, "if you're done ripping off the candy machine…"

"Not _ripping off_, KP," he shook a candybar at her, "getting what's due. There is a difference. Besides, Rufus needs his finder's fee." Peeling off the wrapper, he handed one bar to his pink friend. Rufus squealed with joy.

"Well," the teen superhero smiled, "I guess he deserves it."

Just then, there was a chime from the device on her wrist. Kim held her arm in front of her and pressed a button on the 'Kimunicator'.

"Hey, Wade. What's the sitch?"

"A couple things," the young man's face looked at her from the tiny screen, "first off, there was a robbery while you guys were at school at the National Engineering Center. It was taken care of by the local police, so it didn't filter through my searches. That is, until they started taking eyewitness testimonies."

"Let me guess," Kim narrowed her eyes, "the thief was dressed in green and black and shot lasers from her hands?"

"You got it." Wade nodded as he typed. "The weird thing is that the guy they interviewed said there were two thieves. A man _and_ a woman. And the description doesn't match Drakken at all."

"The plot thickens," her brow furrowed, "the scientists here also said that there had been two different intruders, according to the robot's memory. And I am sure it wasn't Drakken, either."

"Then Shego's got a new partner," Ron picked up, "or is teaming up with another big baddie."

"My thoughts exactly," Kim acknowledged. "What's the other news, Wade?"

"This one's even weirder," the young man frowned in confusion, "you got a hit on your website not too long ago. It was a tip-off about another major robbery that's going to happen today. It doesn't say much more beyond the what and the where, but I think it's happening soon."

"Ok, we're on it, Wade." She started towards the blast doors, Ron shadowing her as he munched on his candybar. "Where're we headed?"

The child genius grimaced.

"You don't want to know."

* * *

Shego was still grumbling when she made it to Drakken's next target. 

She had already broken into this particular series of buildings several times in her career and was almost amused at the improved security, beefed up in all the wrong places. She scaled the barb-wired fence with practiced ease and dashed along the courtyard. There were patrolling guards everywhere and some of them even looked competent. She avoided them all without difficulty.

The sweeping architecture of the place did not lend itself well to stealth. More then once Shego found herself hanging by her clawed fingers as a whistling henchman strolled below her. She was tempted to simply blast her way through the defenses, it was unlikely anyone could stand in her way, given the mood she was in, but Shego felt she had something to prove. To a certain siver-eyed jackass, as well as herself.

Thoughts about Cutter simply spiraled her back into a simmering rage that threatened to boil over. She was convinced that the dark-haired thief was trying to get back at her for last night, when she lied and turned on him in order to secure Drakken's stupid high-tech gadget. Now she had failed twice in a row.

It was all _his_ fault.

Shego felt even angrier at herself for saving the man from the robot that night. He would have been crushed had she not intervened and that would have been that. But Shego also knew that she might not have survived either without his help. He could have easily escaped while the robot was focused on her, but he chose to stay and distract it. The damn idiot. _He_ put her in this situation. It was still all his fault.

Dark thoughts kept a perpetual scowl on her face as she slowly ascended the side of the arched walls. Shego hated when she found herself debating the morals of an issue. Something she found herself doing more and more recently, thanks to a certain red-headed cheerleader. Shego lived in a world of black and white. She was black and Kim Possible was white. It was simple that way.

Shego was destined for black. Created for black.

A squeal of claws on glass made a small hole for her lean frame to slip through. Once inside the tastefully decorated hallways, Shego headed straight for the assembly plant. From experience she knew that would be the easiest entry into storage. Quickly bypassing the retina scanner that locked the door, she entered the dark room. Not expecting the lights to be off, she lit up a single finger with glowing plasma to shed some light.

Then the lights turned on.

Shego blinked in surprise, her finger still aflame. The room was empty except for a single well-dressed individual, standing in its center. Jack Hench adjusted his tie and brushed some invisible dust off his expensive Italian suit. His hair, as usual, was slicked back with way too much product and his smile was just as oily.

"Hello, Shego," the businessman spoke, "a pleasure to have you back at Hench Co Industries, as always. Is there anything specific I can help my old friend Drakken with? A new doomsday-ray? Some evil catalogue subscriptions?"

Jack Hench: the greasy capitalist of the supervillian world. He made Shego's skin crawl. Every time she was in the same room as him, she could practically feel him undressing her with his eyes. He never did anything directly, though. He merely supplied inventions, tools and weapons to an exclusively evil market. Shego thought he was gross.

"Alright, Hench," the woman's hands flamed up, "I wasn't planning on doing it this way, but it works for me." She took a threatening step forward. "Where is the Reversal Drive?"

"Ah, yes," the oily grin didn't falter, "the Reversal Drive, excellent choice. Comes with a thirty day full-warranty." He produced a receipt pad and pen from his coat pocket. "If you want, I can have it gift-wrapped for you. Shall I charge that to Drakken's account?"

"I don't think so," Shego smiled icily, "figured I'd just take it on extended loan."

Hench seemed to frown in disappointment. "I see... Well that's unfortunate." He placed the pad and paper back in his pocket. "I had hoped against hope that you had come here to actually _buy_ something, instead of _stealing_ it, as you always seem to do. But I guess that is the price I pay for the business I do. Still…" the man returned her icy smile, "I suppose it's only fair that we _settle up_ on your tab." With that, he pulled his hand back out of his pocket and pressed a button on the remote he then held. Shego spun in shock as a metal plate dropped in front of the door behind her. The only other exit, directly behind Hench, swung open. "You see, I hired a temp henchman to keep you busy while the authorities make there way here. He came highly recommended through a prominent mercenary service. I do hope he is worth the cost."

Shego adjusted her stance to face the new threat. Her flaming fists pulsed in anticipation. She expected some big, mutated goon or something to come pushing into the room. A couple blasts of green pain would have him shortchanged. Instead, her hands extinguished themselves in shock as Cutter waltzed into the room.

"Hello again, sweetpea."

Jack Hench looked from the smiling Cutter to the jaw-dropped Shego and back. He narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You two know each other?"

"Uhh…" Cutter winced. "We've had a couple run-ins."

"Hmm…" Hench studied Cutter. "Well, ok. As long as you do what you're paid for." He circled around the silver-eyed man to exit through the open door. "I'm sure you'll look ravishing in black and white, Shego." He smiled as another metal plate slammed down, locking the combatants inside the empty room.

Cutter, looked at Shego and scratched his head akwardly. "So… uh, how are things?"

Shego fired twin blasts of green flames at him.

Cutter danced and dodged under the assault. He barely evaded the green woman's fury as she unleashed on him. He flipped and hopped like a madman, bouncing off the floor and walls. Explosions of green and white bloomed to either side as he skittered laterally on the vertical surface, seeming to defy gravity.

Shego hurled throw after throw of screaming plasma at the man. Yelling in anger as he managed to keep bouncing.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Her voice cracked in rage. "Why are you always here? You goddamned idiot!" Her plasma swelled with fury and detonated against the wall, next to Cutter. The force sent him spinning across the floor to smash against the other wall. Shego lept on him as he lay dazed.

"You're not going to make me fail again!" She yelled as she held him by his black shirt. "Is that what you're trying to do? Embarrass me to death?"

"Embarrass you?" Cutter groaned. "Heaven forbid." He kicked out with his legs, driving the woman back into the center of the room. She landed on her back with a grunt and flipped herself backwards onto her feet. Cutter had already sprinted the distance between them, swinging at her. Shego managed to duck and sweep her left right leg around, tripping the silver-eyed man. He landed hard, but rolled and righted himself with liquid dexterity. He swung at her again, but this time Shego grabbed the arm and used his momentum to flip him over her body to smash into the wall. Once again, he spun and twisted cat-like to get back to his feet.

Shego saw that he was much stronger and faster then her. And he was more agile. However, he did not know how to fight as well as she did. He relied exclusively on his strength and speed, and that was his weakness. She had beaten stronger people then him before and his speed was only as useful as what he did with it.

Plus, Shego had her own advantages.

Cutter sprung at her like a pouncing cat, and met her glowing fist as she uppercut him in the jaw. The impact was enough to shatter concrete.

Cutter bounced off the ceiling and landed on the floor in a heap. Pieces of tile rained down on his body. He groaned loudly and turned himself over to spit blood on the floor. Shego stood watching as his head turned and glimmering eyes regarded her through his ruffled black hair.

"That _really_ hurt, sweetpea."

Shego was only the smallest bit surprised that he was still conscience. She had expected him to be tough enough to take the hit, gauged from the superhuman feats she had witnessed him perform thus far. But she was glad he could still talk because now she could get some answers.

"Alright you dweeb," she pulled her flaming fist back as if to strike, "you've got ten seconds to explain yourself."

Cutter watched her fist warily. "Well… I put out an ad in the classifieds. 'Feelance henchman seeks villain for one time temporary engagement'…"

Shego fired a burst at the laying man. He opened his eyes to regard the smoking crater rested between his knees.

"Last chance, Champ," Shego growled, "how do you always know what I'm going to steal?"

Cutter met her angry emerald eyes with his own blank stare. He sat silent for a moment. Then he slowly opened his mouth as though to say something.

And then the steel plate lifted behind them.

Shego spun to look in the door's direction and at the two figures who entered through it. Cutter narrowed his eyebrows in confusion. Shego closed her eyes in exasperation.

"Oh God, not you, too."

Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable stood in the doorway. Kim had her green eyes fixed on the two fighters, while Ron looked around the burnt room.

"Yeesh," the blond boy said, "what have _you two_ been doing in here?"

"Listen, Kimmie," Shego massaged a headache, "now's not a really good time. Can we do this later? I _really_ need to melt this guy." Cutter raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I don't think so, Shego," Kim assumed a fighting stance, "you won't be melting anyone while I'm here."

"Uh huh, I figured," Shego groaned. She turned to face her longtime nemesis with glowing hands. "I guess firsts things first." She leapt at the redhead.

Kim instantly spun into a roundhouse kick, forcing Shego to turn the leap into a roll. She came up with slicing chop which Kim deflected at the wrist, countering with her elbow. Shego barely swung her face out of the way.

While the two girls began their familiar dance, Ron dashed across the room to the seated Cutter.

"You ok there, buddy?" The sidekick helped him stand. "That green meanie didn't give you a hard time did she?"

Cutter stared at the young man in bewilderment. "You're… uhh… Ron Stoppable, right?"

"Indeed I am," Ron beamed, "and that fine fighting female over there would be the legendary Kim Possible!" He nodded to where Kim was deftly dodging plasma swipes.

"Kim Possible…" Cutter repeated as he watched the two girls. "So _that's_ the girl."

"Uh, yeah," Ron frowned at the staring man, "that's _my_ girl. So, ah, mind the looking there, old fella."

Cutter blinked at the younger man. "What? Oh… Oh no. I wasn't…"

A stray blast of plasma had both men ducking. Ron yelped as Cutter grabbed him by the collar, pulling him farther from the fighting. As the young man came to a stumbling stop, Cutter wheeled on him.

"What are you guys doing here?" Cutter's eyes met Ron's but then widened at the sight of Rufus popping out of his pocket. The naked mole rat sniffed in Cutter's direction and then growled

"Uhh…" the sidekick stumbled as he reassured his pet with a gentle pat, "we got a tip that there was going to be a robbery at Jack Hench Co Industries. There's some pretty nasty stuff here, so KP and I decided to check it out."

"A tip?" Cutter frowned.

"Yeah," Ron shrugged. "From Hench himself. He sent us straight in here."

"I see." Cutter clicked his tongue and watched the unhappy mole rat warily.

"So what's your story, my man?" Ron smiled at the thief, seemingly oblivious to the vicious battle raging across the room. "You a hostage or something?"

Cutter smiled at the younger man. "Yeah… or something."

An explosion had both men spinning.

Kim dived out of the cloud of smoke to tumble along the floor. Behind her, Shego came bursting out of the same haze, flaming arms held wide to either side. Kim hopped into the air as Shego brought her glowing fists down to explode on the floor where the redhead had just been. The cheerleader's leg snapped out and nearly clocked Shego's head who managed to flip backwards out of harm's way. They stood facing each other for the barest of seconds. Then, Shego bounded forward to meet Kim in a flurry of jabs and blocks. The women seemed evenly matched. Shego had power where Kim had speed. Both women used their advantages to the fullest.

But Shego's one weakness, as always, was her impatience.

Growling in mounting fury, the older woman made a particularly vicious swipe at the younger woman's belly. She knew the mistake she had made the moment she made it.

Kim twisted with the swipe, gripping onto Shego's arm at the elbow and bicep. Using her momentum, she spun the green woman to pin her on the floor, arm held firmly behind her. Shego grunted in pain and tried to push he way out of the lock. Even using her body as leverage, Kim just barely managed to hold the stronger woman.

"All right, Shego," Kim spoke through clenched teeth, "what's Drakken up to?"

"Come on, Princess," Shego smiled fiercely, "you know I can't tell you. That's how this works."

"We were friends, once." Kim said quietly, to which Shego halted her struggle. "You were… like a big sister to me. I know you remember."

"That was because my brain got zapped!" Shego snarled at the memory. "Like I would be friends with a spoiled cheerleader. Thanks but no thanks, Kimmie."

Kim tried not to let her hurt show. She told herself that she had expected as much from Shego. They had been arch rivals for so long, she couldn't remember anything before. Which made the brief and strange time that they had been best friends all the more bitter.

"I'm sorry, Shego," Kim sighed, fully expecting to put the woman in jail.

"Don't be," the pinned woman tried to sound acidic, "just doing your job."

"Um, excuse me?" Cutter leaned in to the private conversation uncomfortably. The two woman looked at him and he cleared his throat. "Uhh… sorry to interrupt. But I was wondering if I could talk to the… err, prisoner." Shego shot daggers at the silver-eyed man.

Kim narrowed her eyes at the stranger, noting that he was dressed in black as well as his unusual eyes. "And who exactly are you?"

"Oh," Cutter smiled, "I was hired by Mr. Hench to, um, subdue the thief that was threatening his business. Just a temp."

"You're name?" Kim asked impatiently.

"His name is Cutter," Shego growled, "Chris Cutter. And he's an idiot."

Cutter frowned at the mention of his name, but then smiled icily at Shego.

"Cutter?" Ron echoed with a frown, coming to stand next to Kim. "You just told me you're name was Smith."

The three stared at each other for a few moments. Then Kim's eyebrows rose in realization.

"The other thief." She breathed. "Shego's partner."

"Wait, he's not my…" Shego began.

Cutter moved with blinding speed. His hand shot out to grab Kim's wrist. Pulling her off green woman with unexpected strength, he tossed her into the standing Ron. Both heroes fell to the ground in a tangle of limbs and shouts of protest. He then grabbed the prone Shego and roughly hoisted her to her feet, pulling her a few steps towards the open door before she could react.

"What the hell…" Shego pulled out of his grip.

"Run, you stupid woman." Cutter hissed. "Drakken's stupid ray won't build its stupid self."

"Wait," Shego sputtered angrily, "how do you know about…"

"Uhh… Later, sweetpea." He pushed her out the door.

"Hold it!" Kim came to one knee and produced a hairdryer from her belt to point at the retreating man. Cutter actually stopped to look at her incredulously.

"What are you going to do?" He snorted. "Stop me with _style_?"

Kim smiled. "Something like that." A grappling hook fired out of the dryer's nozzle.

Cutter's arm shot up to catch the flying hook. He looked more then a little shocked as the young woman pulled back on the cord to hook him in the hand.

"You're not going anywhere." Kim scowled as she kept tension on the line. Ron, seeing what was happening, was quick to grab on the line as well. The two braced themselves against the dark man.

"Wow," Cutter hissed in pain, "this is nuts. I can't believe you…. arrgh!" He was pulled forward by the two teens. He grimaced at them. "Nevertheless…" Cutter tugged on his hooked arm. "I really need to go."

Kim and Ron were both surprised as they were dragged along the floor. Cutter's face was tight as he hauled his snared hand through the door. He paused to reach for the retina scanner.

"Later, Ron," the silver-eyed man smiled painfully, "nice talking to you."

The steel plate slammed down, cutting the grapple line. Ron and Kim fell backwards together to lie on the floor.

"Well," Ron was the first to speak. "We almost had 'em."

"Yeah," Kim sighed. "I didn't realize he was the partner until too late." She frowned as she sat herself up. "But they _were_ fighting before we got here."

"Yeah," Ron stood and brushed himself off, offering a hand to Kim, "he totally looked the victim, KP. Even had _me_ fooled." The young man looked self-conscious. "I stood there chatting with him like an amateur." Rufus sniffed derisively. He hadn't been fooled.

"No worries, Ron." Kim smiled and rubbed her boyfriend's shoulder. "We know now. He won't fool us again." She brought her wrist up in front of her face to press a button. "Wade, we lost 'em. But we got a lead on Shego's partner. His name is Chris Cutter."

"Did they steal anything?" The young man on the tiny screen asked.

"Nope," she looked around the empty room. "Hench must have cleared the space when he found out Shego was coming."

"Which makes me wonder who _his_ source was." Wade scratched his dark hair. "Something doesn't fit right in all this."

"Total agreement," Kim nodded, "I think we need to find out more about this Cutter guy."

"Like what his deal is with pulling at the hook in his hand," Ron shuddered, "that was sick and wrong!" Rufus echoed his revulsion with a groan.

"Yeah," Kim nodded, "he was pretty strong. And he was really fast; he caught me completely off guard. Put that in your search, Wade."

"On it," the young boy was already typing.

"Oh, and something else strange," she noted, "I noticed that his eyes were silver, colored contacts or something. Maybe that'll help identify his M.O."

"Check," Wade nodded. "Anything else?"

"Not right away. We're going to go find out if Jack Hench knows anything else he's not telling us. Then…" the young woman shuddered, "I am taking a long, hot shower. Being in this place makes me feel icky."

"Right," Wade smiled, "I'll get back to you with some dirt on this new guy."

"Thanks, Wade." The Kimunicator winked out.

* * *

Growling in pain, Cutter cradled his wounded hand as he slid down the outside wall. Small retractable claws in his fingers and toes left tiny furrows as he skimmed along the vertical edge. They allowed the nimble man to find purchase on virtually any surface. It was this reason that Cutter never employed ropes or grapples, like so many other professionals, in his thieving career. 

The thought of grapples had the man looking at the hook embedded in his hand. He still couldn't believe that… _girl_ had sent him running. She had looked young enough to break over his knee. Cutter had to remind himself that he had watched the teen go toe-to-toe with Shego, and somehow _pin_ her, something he had never done.

Even with an injured limb, the silver-eyed man skittered along the buildings almost effortlessly. He kept high enough that no guards saw him, most never bothering to look up anyway. He managed to clear the barb wired fence in one leap and land in a roll that had him grunting as he tried to protect his hand.

Dashing into a copse of trees not far from the Hench Co boundary, Cutter stopped to lean against an oak trunk. He examined his wound and cursed Jack Hench for tipping off Team Possible. When he approached the man with information regarding Shego's planned assault he had specifically offered his own exclusive services as a thief catcher, even going so far as to provide a resume of his past mercenary work to help sell himself. Hench obviously had not trusted him, with good reason. Either that or he had not been convinced that anyone could successfully stop Shego on their own, also with good reason.

Cutter stretched his still soar jaw at the memory of fighting the green woman. He was beginning to feel out of his league. His superior strength, speed and agility had always granted him supreme confidence to overcome all obstacles. But not this one. For some reason, he was feeling more and more helpless as events unfurled. All his plans had spiraled out of control almost from the onset. He did not know what to do.

Cutter wanted to roar in frustration.

With an animal snarl, the man tore the hook from his hand. The pain was excruciating. He saw red for a brief moment, but managed to breathe his way through the episode and find a calm. It was too easy to loose himself to the pain if he wasn't careful. He reflexively blocked the memories that bubbled forth at that thought. Now wasn't the time to brood over the past.

Cutter pulled a bandage from his utility pouch and wrapped his hand quickly. He was no field medic, but then he had never needed to be. Reaching into his pocket with his good hand, he fumbled around. His fingers brushed against a cold metal lump and he paused. He traced the surface of the melted object before continuing his search. Finally, he pulled a wrinkled piece of paper out of the depths.

Opening it enough to read the scrawled list, he decided on his next course of action. The note went back into his pocket and the man left the tree trunk behind, circling around to where he had left his ride.

A few moments of silence followed. And then, a lithe figure dropped to the ground from the very oak tree that Cutter had been leaning against. Emerald eyes stared in the direction that the dark man had retreated. A skin-tight green and black jumpsuit flexed and stretched along athletic curves as the woman slowly straightened from the landing. She quietly took up pursuit.

Shego had some questions.

And she wanted some answers.

* * *

_Part Three will come when I'm good and ready and not a moment before. Heck, I'm still worried that I rushed Part Two. I'm sure I'll find a dozen things wrong with it after a week._


	3. Part Three: In the Pursuit of Exposition

Release Notes:

Yeah, I noticed a couple things to recon. Nothing major, just minor continuity errors between seasons that I overlooked. I blame it on the fact that my timeline is all messed up as I shift and change where I think it fits. Doesn't matter a WHOLE lot, I guess as long as the narrative isn't adversely affected. So I won't point them out specifically.

You may notice that I start each "part" as though I'm introducing the story to a new reader, instead of picking up exactly where I left off, sort of repeating myself and bringing everyone up to speed on previous events as they come up. This is why I call the chapters "parts". I do a lot of it for myself as I leave and come back to writing it, and fore anyone who isn't crazy enough to read the whole thing in one sitting (I know it hurts my eyes to read that much on a computer screen). I've sort of adapted it as the style for this story, as if each part is a self-contained "episode" with its own beginning middle and end. Though I really hope people will start from the beginning. Yeah, I know it's bizarre… but it's MY bizarre, bitches!

In case… you know… you care about any of that. I know I sure don't.

The Author

* * *

**Part Three: In the Pursuit of Exposition**

The afternoon was growing late in the middle of the abandoned industrial park. As the sun continued its inevitable decline in the western sky, shadows began to lengthen along the empty buildings. Many had fallen into various states of disrepair, while some were still used for storage by various shady companies and individuals of ill-repute. Well over a third of the area was owned by the wealthy entrepreneur Jack Hench, to act as a buffer between his large industrial complex and the rest of the world. Hench Co patrols frequented the area, typically scaring away the squatters or ejecting the odd tourist who got lost. Typically, they would circle through once every two hours if they could be bothered.

At that particular time, no patrols were out. The entire Hench Co army had been pulled to triple the guard within the main complex in the hopes of catching a thief. Unfortunately, they had been entirely unsuccessful. The thief in question had entered Hench Co Industries undetected and left just as stealthily.

Now, she was stalking someone else through the industrial park.

On top of a two story office building, the female thief crouched low to stay in the shadows of the air intake ducts. Her emerald eyes were fixed on the alleyway below her and the lone figure that sauntered through it. She remained motionless as he passed below, already having observed the dark-dressed figure's alertness. He would often glance up at the buildings around him, sometimes lingering as though debating whether to scale them himself. Then he would clench his injured hand and wince before continuing on.

Shego was not sure how Chris Cutter had injured his hand. She had seen him cradling it as he came sneaking out of Hench Co Industries, only minutes after she had. Though, judging from the embedded grapple hook he had torn out of it when he stopped to rest, she could wager a guess as to who had been responsible. She was surprised at the odd feeling of pride that welled up at that thought.

As the dark man passed her hiding place, Shego stretched her toned legs, first one and then the other, to keep them from cramping up. The skin-tight green and black fabric of her jumpsuit flexed silently with her movements. She stood the moment Cutter rounded a corner, entering another alley. A gloved hand brushed long flowing black hair away from her face and she loped along the roof edge. Coming to the brink of her building, the green woman leapt the chasm to the next roof, landing quietly in a roll that brought her back to her feet to continue her run unhindered.

She jumped two more buildings, once having to heave herself up over the edge because it was too tall to clear. Despite this, she made hardly a noise and came to another crouched stop with scarcely an increase in her breathing. From this new vantage point, Shego watched her quarry exit the alleyway into the abandoned street.

She squinted as Cutter came to a stop. He scrutinized both directions before inspecting his wounded hand. She could swear he was mumbling to himself, though he was too far to properly hear. He sat down on the curb and began to re-bandage himself.

Shego figured the man must be headed towards a hidden transport, somewhere in the industrial park. Her own jet was a good ten blocks away, awaiting her return. But she wasn't ready to leave quite yet. Not until she figured out what this guy's deal was. He had been popping up like some sort of wack-a-mole at every one of Shego's heists for the past 24 hours. Somehow he knew exactly where she was going and what she was stealing. The only other person with that information was Drakken himself, who had given her the "shopping list" of high-tech parts he wanted her to procure this morning. As usual, his latest doomsday device required her to steal pieces from real scientists in order to build it.

Somehow, this Cutter guy knew about Drakken's ray, and obviously the pieces Shego needed to steal for it. At first, she had been convinced that he was foiling her jobs out of spite. When they met the previous night at another research facility, both thieves had been after the same object. After fighting over it, Shego had destroyed the device rather then letting him win by getting away with it. She figured he had been a sore loser and was now trying to get back at her for costing him a lot of money.

But now, Shego wasn't so sure. His actions had been contradictory, hindering her one moment and helping her the next. His motivations were a mystery, one she needed to solve if there was going to be any progress at all in this most recent world domination plot that she was a part of. So far this Cutter had effectively grinded Drakken's scheming to a halt.

Shego winced at the thought of her employer. She had yet to report to him about her latest two failures, no thanks to the bouncing freak that even then sat within throwing distance. She wondered if he was working for a nemesis of Drakken's, possibly Dementor. She even toyed with the idea that he was a black-op mercenary hired by Global Justice to disrupt certain supervillians. But neither scenario seemed to fit in her mind. Why had she never heard of this guy before?

On the curb, Cutter was finishing rewrapping his hand, tugging tightly on the bandage. She could see him snarling at the wound as he did so. He shook his head violently, as if shaking something off, and then finished the knot. His lips moved again, talking to himself as he stood on bare feet. He shook his head again, as if in the midst of a conversation.

Shego's face contorted as she watched the display. This guy was _way_ weird. She wished she could hear what he was saying. Shego leaned forward on the old roof ledge, straining to listen.

A loose brick went tumbling to the ground.

Cutter's head snapped up to look directly at her. His body was frozen in place like a deer caught in the headlights. She remained frozen as well as their gazes locked. She crouched, staring at him. Maybe he couldn't tell who it was that…

"Sweetpea?" Cutter's shouting voice broke the silence. "Are you following me?"

Shego cursed.

She leapt up and ran along the building, intending to close the distance before the man could dart. Though she possessed unnatural strength granted through otherworldly means, Cutter was even stronger and faster then her. However, she had already fought the man twice and beaten him once, not half an hour ago. She was confident she could subdue him long enough to get some answers.

Oddly enough, Cutter simply stood there, watching her with a stupid look on his face. It seemed to slowly dawn on him what she intended to do when she caught him and his eyebrows rose significantly. He took first one step back and then another before breaking into a dead run.

Shego came to the corner of the building and raised her hands above her head. As she had done countless times before, she pulled at something deep inside herself. Something that had burned itself into her body many years ago to become as much a part of her as the blood that ran through her veins. She felt it well up through her arms and into her clawed hands, hot as lava, but as familiar as a lover's touch.

Glowing green plasma erupted into her palms.

Without hesitation, she swung her arms down and sent a fiery blast of energy screaming towards the fleeing man. Unsurprisingly, it detonated into the ground a few feet from him, sending an explosion of debris into the air and causing Cutter to lurch to the side. He instantly recovered from the stumble and continued to run.

Cursing once again, Shego leapt off the corner of the two story building. Before she fell half a story, she reached out to grab onto a fire escape ladder, easily riding it down to the ground. She hopped off and took up pursuit.

Cutter had already reached across the street and entered a parking lot, heading directly for the nearest building. He was quickly distancing her, as she had expected he would. Coming up to the empty office complex he jumped onto the vertical wall to begin scaling up the side, as she had also expected he would.

Shego stopped and braced herself. She held her hands in front of herself as though gripping and invisible ball. As she ground her teeth in concentration, a tiny green light twinkled between her glowing palms. Her lips curled back as the light slowly swelled and grew to fill the void until she actually held a bright glowing orb in her hands. The sphere crackled and pulsed with her green energy as she pulled it along her side. Then, with a loud grunt, she heaved the orb forward to send roaring towards the office building leaving a vortex of drafts in its wake.

The resulting fiery explosion destroyed a full two-thirds of the wall and sent Cutter spinning through the air to crash into the pavement twenty feet from where Shego stood, her long dark hair flipping in the wind. The landing had looked particularly painful and Shego allowed herself a small wince for the black-suited man. She casually walked towards him, fully expecting him to lie there in pain for a few minutes.

She froze in surprise when Cutter's dark head spun and two shining silver eyes focused on her, his sharp face twisted in a feral snarl. With an animal growl, his legs snapped and he spun up and around to land facing her, crouched on four limbs. His eyes bored into hers through his hanging black hair.

Shego's hands instinctively began to glow.

"Damnit, sweetpea," his voice was strained, almost guttural. "You keep hurting me like that. It's not a good idea. Bad things happen."

Shego narrowed her eyes dangerously at the pet name. She noticed that he was no longer cradling his wounded hand.

"Don't call me sweetpea you bouncing idiot." She raised a flaming fist into the air. "Now, you're going to tell me who you're working for, or I'll really hurt your pretty face."

Cutter's clouded face softened into confusion, ever so slightly, at the mention of his face being pretty. Shego cursed herself for not watching her tongue. How was she supposed to intimidate this loser if she stroked his ego? She was getting soft. And she knew a certain redhead was to blame for it.

Her knee-jerk reaction to cover her slip was to toss a wad of burning plasma at the coiled man. She had indented it as a warning shot, missing him by about a foot, so she could bully him into spilling his guts.

She had not expected him to suddenly bolt the moment the blast left her hand.

Across the yard he flashed, dashing on all fours. He ran like some sort of jungle cat, faster then she had ever seen him move before. Even back when they were fighting the robot when they first met, he hadn't moved this fast. What was he?

Shego reacted mere microseconds after Cutter, though she felt much slower. A barrage of flying green blasts was sent after the fleeing man. They exploded around him harmlessly as he dodged and bounced into the air to smash through an office window. Shego sprinted behind him, leaping headfirst into the same window to tuck and roll into a crouched position inside the darkened space. Her glowing hands cast an eerie green light as the afternoon shadows lengthened. The room was empty except for a few exposed wires on the floor and wall where desks had once been. A quick scan of the bare office revealed no sign of Cutter. A single door lay open into an even darker hallway.

Shego's hands were extinguished and she melted into the shadows. Her slender silhouette crept through the door and into the hallway, silent as an assassin.

She was going to catch that idiot. And then she was going to get some answers.

* * *

Farther inside, away from the windows, there was no light at all. All the circuit breakers were down in the basement somewhere. Not a light switch worked. 

Cutter saw everything. There was no color, simply shades of grey, but he saw everything.

That was a bad sign.

He hung upside down from the ceiling, small retractable claws on his fingers and toes allowing him to stay suspended. He tested the air. He could smell her. Not in the room, of course, but traces of her that had followed his flight. A kind of spicy scent. Almost like cinnamon, but warmer. Cutter's nose was not usually so acute.

That was also a bad sign.

Releasing his toes, he slowly lowered his sinewy frame to the floor with powerful arms. His fingers unhooked and he dropped without a sound. He crouched, listening to the noises of the building around him. Like all his other senses, it had sharpened considerably.

Cutter tested his bandaged hand. It no longer bothered him. Were he to remove the wrapping he knew he would find the once wicked wound almost completely healed. But Cutter didn't remove the bandage, trying to deny what he knew was fact. This was all very, very bad.

Cutter closed his silver eyes and breathed deeply. He needed to get a handle on himself. He quickly ran his tongue over his teeth, testing for any change. His canines didn't feel exceptionally longer then usual. That was good, at least. He forced himself to sit upright, like a man, and tried to find a calm.

After a few moments, Cutter opened his eyes again. He could still see in the dark somewhat, as he always could, but it was much less clear. He couldn't hear every creak and groan as the building settled. His hand even began to throb a bit. He breathed deeply through his nose. He could still smell her, though it was more of a memory of a smell. He exhaled.

As he sat in the dark, Cutter rubbed his face with his hands. Damn that woman. None of it was working out like it was supposed to. Not that Cutter had any idea how it was _supposed_ to work. This was all terrifyingly new to him. Not for the first time, he considered to cut and run. Why was he putting himself through this?

A smooth, cold shape in his pocket reminded him. As he ran the lump of metal, like a polished river rock, through his hands, he smiled fondly. Then he shook his head at his own foolishness.

He clucked his tongue and stared at the metal stone as he tried to think of a new plan of attack.

* * *

Shego heard a clicking noise from the room in front of her. The tiny glow from her index finger winked out and she listened. Everything was silent. 

Then, she heard an amused snort followed by a deliberate exhale. He was definitely inside the room, probably talking to himself again. The weirdo. Shego crept forward, her hands held in front of her to feel her way. Fingers brushed against the edge of the doorframe and she slid into the room.

Away from any external light source, she couldn't see anything. Her eyes were trying to adjust, but even then she could only catch glimpses of shapes along her peripheral vision. She didn't know about Cutter, but she didn't trust that his strange silver eyes couldn't see any better then her own emerald ones. She needed to stun him long enough to capture.

An idea came to her immediately. As silently as she could, Shego slowly stood up in the black room. She raised both hands into the air. Ever so carefully, she pulled at the power deep inside of her, willing its fire up into her hands. She clamped her jaw and concentrated hard, forcing the green glow to stay just below the surface, building up as much as she dared without lighting up.

Suddenly, she heard a sharp inhale. It sounded so close to her that she almost lost her focus. Again, another inhale. As though the man was sniffing the air. Then the slightest pause.

"She's… here?" a whisper came in the dark.

Shego closed her eyes as tightly as she could and brought her hands together above her head in a powerful clap. She could feel the explosion of heat and saw the blinding light even through her clenched eyelids. She heard Cutter's cry of shock.

She opened her eyes, her hands flaming to light the room in green without blinding her. She immediately saw that they were in a kitchen, or a lunchroom. Empty cupboards and countertops lined either side, with blank spaces where a stove and refrigerator once stood. Near the center, not five feet from where she stood, crouched a wincing Cutter, rubbing his eyes furiously. Shego didn't waste a second in leaping at the blinded man. Her leg snapped out in a vicious kick to his jaw, sending him facedown on the floor. She quickly drove her knee into his back and locked both his arms behind his head with her own, her glow extinguished and the room went black. Cutter snarled. She felt his back flex and push, a deep rumbling reverberating through his body. Shego grunted and held on, pushing her knee deeper into the small of his back.

"You're not going anywhere, so quit growling like a dog, you idiot!" She snapped at the pushing man.

Cutter did stop at the sound of her voice. He was breathing deeply, in through his nose and out his mouth from the sound of it. A calming exercise. Or preparing himself for another push. Shego tightened her hold.

"Argh," he moaned, "damnit, woman! You keep doing this and…" Cutter ended in a chilling growl. That definitely didn't sound human.

"Ok, loser," Shego spoke into the darkness, "you're going to tell me everything I want to know, or I'll break your arms." In her current position, she would probably just dislocate his shoulders before she could actually break anything, but there was no point in telling him that.

Cutter actually snorted in amusment. "That would be a very bad idea, sweetpea. For me _and_ you."

Shego increased pressure, causing Cutter to grunt. "I've told you before. Don't call me sweetpea. Now… how did you know about Drakken's plan? You've been at every heist, stopping me from getting the pieces he needs for his stupid doom ray. How do you know what he's building?"

Cutter snorted again. "Doctor Drakken doesn't exactly seem the type to make a foolproof plan. Looks like Team Possible figured it out. They were at Jack HenchCo to stop you too, remember?"

"Oh, I remember," Shego spat, "which makes me wonder who tipped them I would be there? You just happened to be at all three robberies?" She pushed even harder into his back. Cutter twisted but didn't make a sound. She pushed again. "Who are you working for?

Cutter was silent. She noticed he was breathing deeply again. It occurred to her that she had twisted him quite a bit, more then a normal person could handle. But in the darkness, she could not see how much. Cutter's body started to tense.

"This…" his voice was deep and guttural and he seemed to struggle with the words, "this isn't working. I need to try another approach."

Shego was shocked as the man's back suddenly arched violently. His arms pulled forward, so hard that her pin threatened to break. It had to be extremely painful for him, but he simply growled louder and pulled even harder. In the dark, the green thief struggled to hold on, but with each agonizing drive, Cutter seemed to gain strength. She could feel an underlying rumble growing in his body that seemed to reverberate through the room.

Shego began to grow concerned.

Just barely holding on, she felt Cutter's shoulders threaten to pop. Somehow, she knew that would be a bad thing. He seemed to be losing… something, the more pain he was in. She knew from experience that a dislocated shoulder would hurt a great deal and most likely leave him with little facilities to talk, the way things seemed to be going. It appeared that she couldn't pin him to force the answers out of him. She would have to knock him unconscious.

Shego timed her release, rolling backwards off of Cutter as he collected himself for another push. Her hands relit the room in a green glow as she faced the man before her.

Cutter was already on his feet and hands. He immediately jumped up and attached to the ceiling, skittering along like a lizard into a corner. How the hell did he do that? He swung around to hang off the two meeting walls and faced her.

Cutter's shining eyes flickered in the green light, narrowed into two slits. His lips were curled back to bear his teeth. He had fangs. Where the hell had fangs come from?

Shego was more then a little taken aback at the sight. Her fists swelled and crackled as she prepared to fire a blast of plasma. Cutter blinked and shook his head at the dancing flames, seeming to snap out of something. He regarded Shego.

"Don't you get tired of hurting people?" The hanging man asked.

Shego stopped in surprise. The question had caught her off guard.

Taking advantage of the pause, Cutter shot towards the open door. He was through before she could react.

Cursing the man, as well as herself, Shego took up pursuit. Through the hallways she ran, following the scampering idiot as he leapt along the floor, walls and ceiling, moving more like an animal then a man. The green thief had enough difficulty keeping up without trying to blow him out of the air.

They entered a stairwell and Cutter headed up, Shego in close pursuit. She took a couple opportunities to send screaming fireballs up between the rails and unsurprisingly, the dark man dodged them all. Two floors they climbed before reaching the ceiling access door, which Cutter burst through as though it was made of cardboard. A few seconds later, Shego followed into the dimming evening light.

* * *

In the quiet suburban town of Middleton, a violet car made its way down the quiet streets. But this particular car was unlike any vehicle in existence. With smooth, sweeping edges and a futuristic aesthetic, it was a custom design that housed a myriad of technological advancements, each one more fantastic then the last. The car was well, and truly, "all terrain". Including underwater terrain. It was arguably the fastest street-legal automobile on the planet, powered by an experimental fusion reactor, compliments of the Middleton Space center, and one of its most prominent members on staff. All of this had been hand-built by two of the most intelligent minds on the continent, a pair of identical twins whose combined intellect was only surpassed by their ingenuity. 

Behind the wheel was their big sister.

Kim Possible smoothly turned another corner. In the passenger seat next to her, Ron Stoppable barely noticed a shift in speed. The way he figured it, the car could probably drive itself, though he hadn't found a button to make it do that yet.

On a built-in computer screen in the dash, a dark freckled face looked out at the two teenage crime fighters. Wade Load was a number of years younger then the other two members of Team Possible. However, if Jim and Tim Possible, the younger twin brothers of Kim, were classified as child geniuses, then Wade was in the realm of super-genius.

"So," Wade casually typed at his keyboard, seated at his command center in his room elsewhere in Middleton, "A Nuclear Capacitor Switch, the Quantum Matrix Amplifier and now the Reversal Drive. That's quite a list of high-tech parts."

"Yeah," Ron chimed in, "but they didn't get the Reversal Drive, we managed to scare em off, Kim and I!" The blond teen beamed at the young woman driver, who smirked in response. "So Drakken's got nothin'!"

"I'm not so sure," Kim responded, glancing at Wade and Ron before looking back to the road, "I don't trust that Drakken won't find another way to build whatever it is he's building. I mean, it's not like Jack Hench wouldn't still _sell_ him the stupid thing even after he tried to steal it. And I don't want to wait until then to find out we were wrong."

"Gotcha," Wade nodded at the red-headed cheerleader. "I'm still running some sims on what those combination of parts could build, but the list is pretty long. And not much of it is pleasant."

"Not suprising," Kim sighed, "just do what you can Wade, thanks."

"In the meantime, I've been looking into that Cutter guy you were describing..."

"Hrmph," Ron grumbled and crossed his arms at the mention of the dark man they had met at Jack Hench Co Industries. "A lying thief is what he is." Ron was particularly bitter about his meeting with the man. He didn't want to admit it to anyone, but he had actually liked the guy and chatted with him like old buddies. That was, until he turned on both Kim and himself, helping their nemesis Shego escape. He had lied right to Ron's face, smiling the whole time. And Ron fell for it like a fool.

A supportive churp came from his lap, where Rufus, the naked mole-rat, sat comfortably. The small pink-skinned mammal had been the only one to immediately distrust Cutter. As if he had sensed something off about him. That fact didn't help Ron's mood, as he had ignored Rufus's warnings at the time. One more strike against him. Some sidekick he was.

"Well…" Wade continued, "I haven't pulled up much of anything. Which is odd in itself. His description has been linked to a couple high-level robberies, but that's about it. His name doesn't pull up."

"Must be a fake name then." Ron announced.

"I don't think that's it," Wade frowned, "it's like whenever I do a search for his name, there is a blank void in the system. Normally I'll get the usual false hits and dead ends. But with this… there's nothing. As if someone has gone through and deleted any trace."

"Hm," Kim's eyes narrowed, "that's not a good sign."

"The thing is," the young boy continued, "the last time I came across a similar pattern is when I tried tracking information related to WEE."

"The Worldwide Evil Empire?" Ron straightened from his slouch.

"Gemini?" Kim spoke the supervillain's name in surprise. "He's working with Drakken?"

"It's possible," Wade shrugged, "or at least this Cutter guy is a member of WEE. There is still a lot we don't know about them."

"But Global Justice does," Kim responded. "Wade, can you get some info from the GJ database on WEE? See if they've been tracking anything related to us or Drakken."

"Done and done." Wade smiled as he set to work. "I'll get back to you with the results in the morning."

"Thanks, Wade." Kim smiled as the monitor winked out, leaving her alone with Ron.

"Not bad for a Friday," the young man stretched in his seat, "aced a history test and stopped a robbery. Now I got cartoons to look forward to in the morning!"

"Mmm, hmm." Kim Possible's eyes never left the road. Ron watched her for a minute.

"What's wrong, KP?" The young man asked his best friend. Kim glanced at him, hearing the uncharacteristically serious tone to his voice. "You've been distracted since we left Hench Co. Something you want to talk about?"

Kim pressed her lips together, the way she always did when she was holding on to something. Ron had known her so long, he could tell these things.

"It's…" she began, and then sighed, "it's Shego. I've been noticing that it's been getting… harder and harder to fight her."

"She's getting better? Well I guess that if she…"

"No," the young woman brought the car to a stop. They were parked in front of Ron's house. "It's not that. It's…" She struggled with the words. "It's, like, we've been through so much. She's been my arch nemesis for so long, it's like I can't remember a time before. And… it's always been simple. We're enemies. I'm good and she's bad."

Ron listened quietly. Trying to let his childhood friend get it out. It was obviously a difficult thing for her to explain.

"I guess we've always sorta had a professional respect for each other," Kim shrugged, "I mean… it's always ended up between us, one way or another. But.." Kim sighed again. "Ever since that time when her mind got scrambled…"

"Yeah," Ron remembered the incident vividly, "she got turned into a goody-two-shoes by Hench's Attidudeinator. You two were pretty tight when she wasn't trying to kill you."

Kim smiled, despite herself. "Yeah, we had so much in common. She was… like the big sister I never had. It's so weird being best friends with someone that you've convinced yourself you hate. I guess it kinda confused me."

"No sweat, KP," Ron reached over to squeeze her shoulder gently, "I've been on the receiving end of that thing. More then once. The whole deal is confusing."

"Yeah, I know." Kim's hand met Ron's. "But ever since she was switched back, it's been like… I dunno, like she's not fighting me like she used to. It feels… more personal. Like she's angry at me for being her friend. But then, other times I swear she's hardly fighting at all. Like she's letting me win. She's even saved me, once or twice, under the pretense that she won't let anyone beat me but her."

"Yeah," Ron nodded, "I've noticed that a couple times. I thought it was weird… but then, so is Shego."

Kim grinned again. "_That's_ an understatement."

Ron matched her smile, glad to see that she was feeling better. He couldn't think of anything more beautiful then when Kim smiled.

"I just… don't want to fight with her, Ron. Not like this. I know it's our job and everything, but it doesn't feel right anymore."

"Sensei once told me," Ron said as he recalled his time training in Japan, "'Combat should never feel right, no matter how well you fight. The day you desire to do combat above all else, is the day you are truly lost.'"

"Thanks, Ron." Kim leaned forward and kissed him lightly. As always, the act left his heart pounding in his chest. She pulled back, inches away. "I can always count on you to make me feel better."

Ron reached up and gently cupped her face. She was the most amazing girl in the world. "Hey, what's a BF's for, KP? Except to make you feel good?"

Both teens blushed at the accidental entendre. Ron cleared his throat awkwardly while Kim ran her hand through her long red hair.

"Uh… goodnight, Kim." Ron opened the door to exit the vehicle. "See ya tomorrow."

Kim reached out to grasp her boyfriend's hand. "See you tomorrow, Ron."

* * *

An explosion of green flames sent the entire metal structure that was the fire escape squealing to the ground. Bounding along the building's vertical exterior, as if he was running along a slight slope, the black-clad man narrowly escaped the collapsing steel framework. Sprinting along the top of the opposing building, Shego yelled in frustration. Two more blasts of plasma flashed into the wall, detonating behind the evading man. 

Leaping off the edge, the green thief flew across the chasm, her leg kicking out at Cutter. Surprisingly, the man suddenly dropped straight down, sliding along the sheer wall face on three limbs. Shego's foot connected with the mortar exterior where he had just been, leaving a cracked crater in its wake. She absorbed enough of the impact to kick herself back out, flipping backwards to find purchase on a narrow window ledge. Both of her clawed hands dug into the building to gain her balance. Meanwhile, Cutter simply sprang up the opposing wall with spider-like agility. By the time she had established herself for another attack, he had flipped over the building's edge out of her sight.

Shego ground her teeth and drug her claws along the wall, leaving deep and angry furrows. She swore she was going to break all four of this idiot's limbs when she caught him. Let's see him bounce up the walls then! She swung herself around and leapt up to catch the ledge above her, easily pulling her athletic body up. She quickly climbed her way back to the roof, though not half as quickly as Cutter had.

Shego was growing increasingly frustrated with the chase. It had gone on like this for at least half an hour now, the dim light of the sunset quickly disappearing. Leaping from building to building, climbing walls and clearing fences. She had to push as hard as she could, almost to the point of recklessness, just to catch up with the free-running man. And even then, he would keep distant from her deadly hands, easily dodging her ranged attacks only to distance her again. Shego knew she could kick the guy's ass; she had done it twice already. But now, out in the wide open, his superior speed and agility gave him the advantage. It was beginning to dawn on the green-skinned woman that she could not catch his ass.

In fact, the only reason she could surmise that Cutter hadn't left her completely in the dust already, was that he was lost.

Shego knew, already being familiar with the industrial park, that the dark man had been traveling in circles and backtracking, trying to get his bearings. As she originally thought, she suspected that he was trying to locate his transportation. However, in the course of their subsequent chase, Cutter seemed to have lost his orientation.

Taking a brief second to examine her environment, she immediately saw the man's silhouette jump and swing onto a steel girder structure a block away. He stood easily on the foot-wide surface several floors above the ground, looking in multiple directions. Shego quickly closed the gap between them, clearing two buildings and hotfooting down a loading bay, a tool shed and a dumpster to enter the construction site at ground level. She bounced of equipment and steel structures alike to climb and swing her way up into the criss-crossing maze of girders.

She froze in the shadows as Cutter suddenly came leaping overhead. He didn't notice her and passed by, climbing and swinging up to take vantage out the other side of the structure. She heard him swear to himself.

As quietly as she could and with the balance of a gymnast, Shego made her way along the narrow walkway towards the searching man. Her eyes were glued to his trim frame, watching for signs that he had spotted her. He suddenly turned and she froze again. Across the maze he quickstepped to look out from another angle. He still hadn't noticed her.

It took a great deal of willpower to keep from lashing out with her glow, but Shego managed to keep herself hidden. She wanted this idiot. He had stuck his fingers in her business over and over, screwing up her heists and causing her grief. But more then that, he was messing with her head. He had fought with her one minute and then turned around and helped her the next. Her thoughts were drawn back to the strange question he had asked her, not forty minutes ago. "_Don't you get tired of hurting people?_" She refused to look for an answer. It wasn't relevant to her job. She was an evil henchman, damnit. She fired destructive energy from her hands. She could punch through solid concrete. She was a force of devastation, forged by the cosmos themselves. There was no point in fighting what she had been made into, what she had been designed to be: a weapon.

He was playing her. And she wasn't going to stand for it.

Cutter swore again. Much more colorfully this time. Had Shego not been in her present mindset, she might have smiled at his creative use of expletives. Instead, her face was stone as she crept within ten feet of the mumbling man. Suddenly he straightened and leaned forward, looking carefully at the street in front of him.

"A ha!" Cutter exclaimed excitedly, seeming to recognize something. He turned as if to leave.

Taking careful aim, the green woman focused a powerful blast from her fists. She knew how to modify the power inside of her depending on the situation. In this case, the discharge was concussive, not hot enough to burn or melt, but potent enough to hit with the force of a speeding car. She was counting on the impact being enough to knock the tough man unconscious without killing him.

Cutter spun a microsecond too late. The force hit him sideways and he went spinning through the girder maze. Shego immediately jumped and hopped along in pursuit, intending to catch him before the stun could wear off. He bounced off one beam and clipped another as he fell two stories down. Then an arm shot out and grabbed at the steel. Shego saw sparks fly from Cutter's fingertips as he dragged them along the metal surface, slowing his decent until he stopped suddenly. His face snapped up to look at her, twisted into a familiar feral snarl. His eyes were two glimmering silver points.

"Not again," Shego groaned.

Hanging by one arm, Cutter swung himself into and easy flip and landed in a crouch. She expected him to bolt away like he did before, but she was surprised as he jumped up towards her with an animal roar. With terrifying speed he flew through the structure, jumping through the girders with inhuman ease. His shining eyes never left hers.

Shego actually stepped back. Something was different. He seemed to have lost something again, like before. But even more so. He came snarling at her like an attacking dog, leaping up and on to her with his arms reaching for her throat. Shego rolled back with the pounce, holding his wrists with her hands and kicking into his stomach to send him flying over her. She spun to her feet on the narrow beam and faced the wild Cutter.

The growling man hadn't even stopped moving, bouncing off a vertical column to come roaring back at her. He smashed into the green woman and they both went flying into the air.

Shego instinctively brought her knee up into the man's chest. He hardly flinched and responded with a vicious backhand. The two tumbled, punching and kicking towards the ground, Cutter displaying a shocking ferocity that Shego hadn't seen from him before. She blocked and attacked with all her martial skill, a blurring display that only one other person ever managed to bring out of her, but it was like fighting a rabid tiger.

The earth came rushing up to them.

Shego brought both hands up to Cutter's chest. With a shout, she unleashed an explosive blast of green plasma that blew them apart. She went flying up. Cutter went whistling down. The green woman spun in the air and reached out to grab onto a passing girder with a painful grunt.

Below her, Cutter smashed into the concrete floor.

Shego hung, suspended in midair. She looked down at the man lying in the center of a spider web of cracked cement. He did not move.

She let herself breathe and then painfully pulled herself onto the girder. She immediately began a calculated decent to the floor. Any normal human being would be dead, but she had seen Cutter shrug off some pretty hefty blows in the short time she had dealt with him. She surprised herself with that hopeful thought. Why should she care if this loser was dead or not? She already knew the answer to her own question. She may be a weapon, but she was no murderer. Not if she could help it. Not even if the guy _was_ a total spaz.

She approached Cutter cautiously. She had played possum more then once in her career as a supervillian. When he didn't move, she pulled off one black glove and tested his jugular with her bare fingers. He still had a pulse. Shego released a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding and shook her head at how soft she was getting.

She looked the man over. His black shirt looked scorched in several places, particularly the front where she had just blasted him. She could see small patches of skin through the holes though nothing looked serious. His black pants were slightly torn in places and his bare feet were callused and scratched. Even though he was quick to dodge most of her attacks, it seemed collateral damage from the explosions still managed to batter him.

Shego opened the utility pouch that was strapped to Cutter's thigh. She found nothing terribly exciting; some bandages, a pocket knife, a set of keys, rubber gloves, some lock picks. Not a fifth of what she would expect a professional thief to carry on his person. Her own ankle pouch contained a multitude of compact burglar tools above and beyond what this man had.

She reached into his pockets with her bare hand. Out of one, she pulled a wrinkled piece of paper. Unfolding it, Shego's mouth opened in shock. She recognized the scrawling writing. It was the list Drakken had given her in the lair. The exact list of parts he had wanted her to steal for his Reverse Engineering Ray and where they could be found. She had memorized the list and tossed it away, right there in front of Drakken. This freakin _psycho_ had taken the discarded note from right under their nose. From inside the freakin lair!

Shego incinerated the paper in an angry fist. She was so damn sick of how easy it was to find Drakken's 'secret' lair. The blue idiot wouldn't know secret if it bit him in the…

A quiet groan came from the unconscious Cutter.

Shego watched the man's face, looking for the first sign of awareness. He went quiet and still again. She went back into his pockets. That was one mystery solved, namely how this moron managed to figure out Drakken's plan and effectively ruin her day. Her fingers brushed against a solid shape in his pocket. Now if she could just figure out why this guy was…

She paused as she pulled a smooth lump of metal out of Cutter's pocket. Her eyes narrowed in confusion. This looked familiar. She ran her fingers over the surface, seemingly like polished stone. She had seen this thing before. The night she met Cutter for the first time. They had fought over a small metal box, the Nuclear Capacitor Switch. All that was left after she melted it had been a shiny lump of metal. He… kept it?

Suddenly, there was a grip like iron on her wrist.

Cold silver eyes snapped open and looked directly into Shego's. She knew instantly that Cutter was still gone. His dark eyebrows furrowed and his sharp face twisted. Lips curled back to bear four sharp fangs. A growl escaped from deep inside his chest as the pressure on her wrist threatened to snap her forearm.

Shego knew she had a choice. Cutter was getting stronger and seemingly crazier the more she hurt him. There was the chance that if she continued to fight him this way, he would get too ferocious to handle. He was no longer the bouncing idiot that she had been chasing. He was an animal. Her only chance was to kill him.

Her free hand raised into the air and glowed with swirling green flames. She knew she could blow a hole right through his chest at this range without difficulty, or crush his skull with a concussive punch. There were any number of ways that Shego, the living weapon, could kill this man.

But she paused.

In her mind, Cutter asked her the question. She didn't even know how to answer it. Did you ask a dagger if it got tired of stabbing or gun if it hated shooting? A tool didn't question its purpose. Shego hurt people. It was what she did. It was the role she had been given.

Their gazes were locked. Emerald and silver. Shego could see the animal fury in those glinting eyes that promised death she let them. But how far away was the man who had saved her life last night when he could have saved his own? Why had he? She looked at the metal lump in her bare hand, cold and smooth. The light of her green fire reflected off its surface.

Cutter's feral gaze followed hers to the metal stone. He stared at it, as if trying to remember something significant. Something important. The green fires reflected back at him.

The dark haired man blinked. His eyes softened. They looked back to Shego and then widened in horror.

"Oh no," Cutter whispered, reaching up to feel his teeth. "Oh no." He released his grip and skittered backwards, away from the confused woman. "Crap, crap, crap! This isn't what I… damnit!" He spun and sprinted away.

"Hey, wait!" Shego shouted after him. "I'm not going to…"

He was already gone.

Shego wasn't sure what to do. So she ran after him.

Across two parking lots and around a warehouse he fled. She followed and saw him dash into an open loading bay, disappearing into the black void inside. Shego came jogging up, still trying to figure out what she was going to do. She couldn't catch him and she couldn't hold him, she simply didn't have the means available to her at the moment. Not without killing him, or at least crippling him severely. Something she couldn't bring herself to do at the moment, which was even more confusing and frustrating.

She knew she had to stop him. He was a threat to the big plan. She had to find out who he worked for. She had to report to Drakken. She had to complete the mission.

She had to figure out who this guy was.

As she neared the darkened entrance, she heard the roar of an engine. She skidded to a stop as a single bright light pierced the black. Cutter shot out of the bay on a black sport bike. He had a full face helmet with a reflective chrome visor stuffed on his head and a hastily donned leather jacket seated on his shoulders. In one hand he held two black boots while simultaneously trying to work the bike's clutch, obviously not having time to fit them on his bare feet. The motorcycle screamed passed Shego, who sent a half-hearted blast of plasma in its direction, knowing full well that it wouldn't catch him. Down the abandoned street sped the turbocharged machine, its lights quickly disappearing from sight, though the wailing engine could still be heard as it faded into the evening.

Shego stood in the fading twilight, facing the direction Cutter had fled. In her bare hand she still held the lump of metal she had taken from him. She took a long, deliberate breath and swore into the night.

* * *

A few hours later. And a few thousand miles away. 

In the dark depths of a viciously villainous lair, a scarred man with blue skin and a greasy ponytail paced through a cavernous room. He grumbled angrily to himself and would glance at the giant computer screen that dwarfed everything else as well as the complex control console that sat at its base. Dr Drakken would never admit it, but he had no idea what many of those buttons did. It wasn't kosher to admit any sort of overarching flaw as a supervillian. At least Shego knew what it all did.

The thought of his smart-mouthed sidekick made the mad scientist gnarl and stomp his feet. Where was that woman? She was supposed to be back by now.

"If she spent the day getting a massage again," he spoke aloud, "I am going to…"

On the control panel, a red light started blinking with a corresponding chime. Drakken spun in surprise.

"Oh, oh, oh…" the supervillian skipped over to the console and hopped from one foot to the other anxiously. "Wha'do I do, wha'do I do? Sheg-" He stopped himself from calling for his absent sidekick with a growl. He could figure this out! He was an evil genius!

Draken pressed a button. Suddenly, red lights started flashing throughout the room and on the massive screen a giant timer started counting down.

"_Warning_." Came the automated voice, echoing through the complex. "_Self Destruct Initiated. T-minus 50 seconds until detonation_."

"Aaahh!" Drakken screamed. He started pressing more buttons. "Turn it off, _turn it_ _off_!"

"What the heck are you doing?" A smooth and irritated voice came from the room's entrance. Drakken spun to see an athletic, green and black form enter the cavern.

"Shego!" Drakken shouted in panic. "We have to escape! The computer has gone insane!" He dropped to his knees and raised his fists dramatically. "Why? Why did I have to play god!"

The dark haired woman sauntered up to the control panel. She pressed two buttons.

The lights stopped flashing. The voice stopped counting. The chime stopped chiming. On the massive screen the timer disappeared. Shego turned and leaned against the console, arms crossed. She looked at Drakken in annoyance.

He remained on his knees for a few moments, sheepishly. Then he leapt to his feet and pointed at the multitude of lights and switches.

"There was a blinking light!" He whined. "I had mere seconds to…"

"Was it _this_ light?" She pointed. "The one that tells you when someone lands a plane in the hanger?"

Drakken worked his jaw. He whirled and paced into the center of the room, launching into a monologue. "Yes, now that the mystery of the blinking light has been solved, we can _finally_ move onto phase two of my devious plan! With the final three ingredients… and the, uh… one piece still on back order, I will complete my Reverse Engineering Ray! Shego, hand me the…" He suddenly noticed that she was empty-handed. "Shego? Where are the parts you were supposed to steal?"

Shego winced. "Yeah, about that… um." She adjusted her hair unnecessarily. "The thing is… I couldn't steal the Quantum Matrix Amplifier or the Reversal Drive."

"What?!" Drakken shouted. He shook his little fists and stomped his feet. "Three times! Three times you have _failed_ me, Shego!"

"Hey!" The green thief snapped. "It wasn't my fault. Someone else got in the way…"

"Kim Possible!" The blue man jumped to the obvious conclusion. "I should have known! Mark my words, Shego. She has foiled me for the last time!"

The green woman paused for a brief moment, and then shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, Kimmie. That's who it was. Yep… good ol' Princess as usual."

Drakken narrowed his eyes at his sidekick. "Is that all? Where is the last piece?"

Shego stood from the console and made to leave. "I'm tired, Dr. D. I'm going to bed. I'll get your precious part tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Drakken whined. "But I wanted it _tonight_!"

"Listen, you little baby!" She whirled on her employer, who cringed at her anger. "You can't do anything without the other pieces anyway. So you can just sit tight and wait another night. I had a really crappy day, and I don't need your bitching!" She stormed out of the cavernous room. "And don't you dare bug me any earlier then ten o'clock!" She was gone.

Draken pouted alone in the chamber. He knew he had to figure out another way to get his parts. And the last piece, that Shego had yet to attempt to steal, was possibly the most important.

Draken rubbed his bare chin. He needed to make sure that Shego was successful on this last caper. He couldn't afford another failure. And so, the evil genius set out to guarantee victory in the morning, laying plans for an assault not even Team Possible could stop.

* * *

The door opened into a medium-sized room and Shego entered, closing it behind her. Her green and black motif had been carried throughout the quarters she had claimed in Drakken's bizarre castle base. She had one of the best views on the island, if the perpetual gloom ever lifted that was. Her queen-sized bed was covered in black sheets and green blankets across from her black vanity table with rounded mirror. There was a doorway into a small bathroom with a shower and tub. Next to it was a fair-sized closet that housed a large assortment of green and black uniforms as well as a collection of 'civvies' that she hardly got the chance to wear. 

Making sure the two tamper-proof locks were engaged, Shego pulled off her gloves and tossed them on the vanity chair. Then she sat on the edge of her bed and pulled her boots off with a groan. She was feeling particularly stiff after all the running around she had done today. Any other person would have collapsed from exhaustion halfway through the exertion she had put herself through. But Shego was in peak physical condition. And she had the gift of otherworldly endurance bestowed upon her at a young age. Even so, she still needed rest and recuperation.

The woman stood and began the arduous task of undressing. Her jumpsuit fit her perfectly and allowed her to work without restriction, but after a day wrapped in the thing, it was heaven to get out of it. Snaps and buttons released allowing her to pull a smooth-running zipper along the edge of her uniform where the two colors black and green met. With a sigh, she pealed herself out of the sweaty suit to drop it to the floor. Stepping out of the pile of clothes, clad only in her underwear, she felt greasy and disgusting. She headed straight to the bathroom.

A bath was drawn while she pulled her black hair back into a pony tale. She inspected herself, hands running over smooth, pale green skin, pausing on each new bruise and scratch. They would all fade quickly, as they always did. Shego sighed and stripped herself naked.

The near-scolding temperature was perfect. She never burnt easily and handled extreme heat without difficulty. A pleasurable groan escaped her lips as she sunk into the tub. She closed her eyes and relaxed all her muscles. Above her, the showerhead dripped rhythmically, adding to her comfort.

Her mind wandered to the metal lump she had stuffed in her ankle pouch.

She hadn't told Drakken about Cutter. Walking into the control room, she had intended to do so. But she hadn't. It didn't really matter that he blamed Kim. In truth, he'd probably find a way to blame her anyway. She smirked slightly at the thought of Kimmie driving Drakken nuts, even when she didn't do anything.

Her smile disappeared as thoughts returned to Cutter. That weird, bouncing, stupid, spazoid. The thought that he had been in the lair, right under her nose, made her mentally remind herself that she had double locked her door. Though if she did catch him in here, he would be nothing but a boiling stain on her floor.

Shego sighed yet again. Something was off about that guy. She couldn't figure out what he was after. He wasn't acting like a competing villain or like a secret agent, or even a simple henchman. She was starting to suspect that he was part of an even larger plot. Something bigger then Drakken's latest doomsday device.

A soapy sponge ran up over her shoulders and Shego bit her lip at the pleasurable sensation. There had been one other object on Drakken's list, odd as it was. Cutter had stolen the list. He knew where she was going tomorrow and what she was after.

She wasn't going to tell Drakken. She would go through with the heist and see what would happen. Would he show up, yet again? Would he try and stop her, like he did before? Or would he help her, like he also did on occasion?

Shego scrubbed herself deliberately, suds slipping along her bare skin.

Tomorrow, she was going to expose his plan.

* * *

_OMG! WTF is gonna happen?? LOL, I have no idea, NOOBZ! It will happen when it happens… and when it happens, it definitely will._

_Happen… that is._


	4. Part Four: Saturday Morning Blues

Release Notes:

I find it humorous that I continue to write these little "behind the scenes" crap for my readers, when it is painfully obvious that NO ONE reads my stories. I can tell this because I have, like, no reviews. If you are one of those millions of quiet, secret readers that I like to pretend that I have, feel free to leave a comment or two. It makes me want to write even more if I feel like someone wants to read this crap.

Anywho, the saga continues. You may notice I am getting into almost pornographically descriptive shower scenes with our two favorite female characters. So sue me. I try to be pornographically descriptive of everything I write. It makes me feel like I'm actually writing and not just dictating wish-fulfillment. I did try and keep them tasteful and fairly tact. It's hard not to be sexy when describing these two women. But I wanted to write the scenes as windows into their private lives, when they are at their most vulnerable and introspective. I know that I am at my most introspective when I am alone in the shower, stripped of everything but myself. I simply wanted to see those two powerful characters in the same sort of position. I'm not a perv… I swear.

Oh, and just so you know how messed up my timeline is… I was halfway done writing this part when I saw "Oh No. Yono!" I was glad I did, so I could reference it along with Hana (you'll see where). I knew I wanted to play with Hana as a character and an influence in the saga, so I'm glad I got to see that story when I did. The way I figure it right now, this first arc in my little saga occurs during season 4, prior to graduation (the series finale). I really want to see how that turns out before I decide if I want to write my own version of graduation. I'd rather not, if I can make my story fit around it effectively. In that case, the next arc may take place not long after grad. Naturally, I'll have to watch it first before I decide. I'll keep you informed of my decision.

You know, in case you give a crap.

I know I don't.

The Author.

* * *

**Part Four: Saturday Morning Blues**

Morning descended upon the sleepy suburban town of Middleton, USA with a vengeance. Birds chirped. Flowers bloomed. Paperboys rode. It was Saturday.

Golden rays of sunlight managed to creep their way between the closed curtains of one particular window and play upon a sleeping female form draped in purple and pink sheets. Long red hair splayed out across her pillow, framing her young face. On the bed next to her, lay an open political science book. She was a senior student at the local Middleton high school, but this book was not required reading. In fact, it was an introductory textbook for university-level courses.

She stirred.

Bright green eyes appeared between feminine eyelashes, blinking and squinting at the intruding sun. The last fleeting memories of a lucid dream disappeared from the edge of her consciousness. She moaned and flipped herself over, burying her face in the pillow. She lay there, half awake, trying to force her way back into a dream she had already forgotten. Minutes passed, and the young woman drifted back into slumber.

Then, something chimed at her on the nightstand.

Kimberly Ann Possible growled into her pillow. For once, she'd like to have slept in on a Saturday. No work. No school. And no saving the world. It was not an uncommon thought for Kim Possible, teen crime fighter and freelance superhero; the desire for a normal life. Something she saw her other friends enjoy, like Monique. Or even, dare she think it, Bonnie Rockwaller. Normal worries and normal sitches.

The Kimmunicator, a high-tech communication device that was normally strapped to her wrist, chimed a second time from her nightstand. Kim sighed and smiled away her self-pity. She could never give up helping people like she did. Besides, her life had never been normal and she knew it never would be. So she would make the best of what she had.

She reached across to the bedside table and palmed the gadget. Bringing it up to her face, she pressed a button that brought the miniature computer screen to life with the freckled face of a younger, but long-time friend.

"Hey Wade," she yawned. "What's the sitch?"

"Morning, Kim," the child genius greeted, "sorry if I woke you. Guess I work on a different schedule then most people."

"No big," the blurry-eyed cheerleader smiled, "news on Drakken?"

Wade Load's dark face frowned. "Yes and no. I managed to skim a bit of info from the Global Justice network about WEE and Gemini. It's not a whole lot, though. Mostly just stuff they've documented from the many encounters between them."

Kim rolled her eyes. "You'd think the Worldwide Evil Empire would be a bigger deal for Dr. Director. Given that her twin brother is the head of it."

"It's not like that," Wade shook his head, "the Empire is on top priority for GJ. But they have as much trouble as I am tracking down information. Probably even more so, to tell you the truth, given how easily I can hack their systems. My theory is that the WEE has a cyber ghost on their payroll."

Kim raised an eyebrow. "A what?"

"Cyber ghost." He rotated his hand as he tried to find the words. "Like, a computer wiz who stays connected to the network 24-7, tracking and controlling any information related to WEE."

Kim smiled. "Kinda like an _evil_ _Wade_?"

The young man blinked in surprise, and then smiled back at the redhead.

"Yeah, something like that."

"Ok, so what _did_ you manage to get?" Kim adjusted her hair, suddenly realizing that it must have been a mess.

"Like I said, not much. From what GJ can gather, the Empire itself is divided into many smaller partitions, each one capable of individual operation. In fact, none of them directly communicate with each other and are excessively secretive towards anyone outside their cell, even other members of the WEE."

"Sounds like a right paranoid bunch." Kim smirked sarcastically.

"Problem is, it works! Even if Global Justice manages to crack one cell, the rest of WEE is unaffected. GJ suspects that only the only one who actually knows about all the cells is Gemini himself as well as maybe a handful of others in his inner circle. It's them who delegate tasks between the different sections and keep their eye on the bigger picture. They can't get much by interrogating captured henchmen, since they don't know anything outside their own cell. Hence, not much info in the GJ systems."

"Ok, that's all major not good." She leaned back into her pillow. "So we have no way of figuring out if Drakken is teamed up with Gemini and the Empire?"

Wade smiled. "That's the _yes_ of the 'yes and no'. Global Justice has verified that the WEE _never_ teams up with rouge villains for their plots. Its part of their whole 'can't trust anyone outside the group' thing they got going on. Plus, Drakken is not exactly respected by much of the villain community. Gemini probably sees him as a kindergarten bully."

"Ok, that's good," the young woman frowned. "But now that doesn't explain this Cutter guy. He keeps popping up at all of Shego's thefts and he definitely helped her escape from the last one. He's got to be working with her and Drakken. Maybe he's not a member of the Worldwide Evil Empire after all?"

Wade shrugged and threw his hands in the air. "Sorry, Kim. I couldn't tell ya one way or the other. I might have jumped to conclusions when I saw his info was deleted from the network. It just looked like the work of the Empire."

"It's ok, Wade." Kim waved the blame away. "So not the drama. We'll just have to figure out his connection to all of this. He must be a major player if he has the connections to stay under the radar like that."

Wade raised an eyebrow. "You think Drakken is trying to play hardball?"

"I don't know. Never figured he'd have it in him." She sighed. "Shego on the other hand… well, whatevs. We'll be ready as usual. Keep up the good work, Wade."

"Please," Wade beamed, "I don't do any other kind." The screen went blank.

She placed the Kimmunicator back on the bedside table and opened her mouth into a massive yawn. Her arms reached out and her back arched off the mattress as she stretched for all she was worth. With a fierce exhale she released and plopped back onto the bed, sheets floating down to settle along her athletic frame.

Her mind ran through possibilities. Drakken didn't usually hire help outside of Shego. He couldn't afford it. He could barely afford her, as far as she knew, which is why Shego often took on freelance projects on the side. The idea that some unknown player had entered the well-rehearsed drama between Team Possible and Drakken didn't sit well with Kim. At least Shego didn't seem to be getting along with her new partner, from what the cheerleader had seen yesterday. A weakness they could possibly exploit.

Kim frowned as she thought of the green-skinned woman that was the greatest adversary she had ever come across. And… had turned out to be one of the greatest friends.

The young woman sighed yet again. It seemed that Shego made her do that a lot. They were arch enemies. That was that. Shego would never change, not really. There was no point to keep wondering about the 'what ifs' between them.

Kim's eyes began to droop. Her thoughts became muddled. It was still Saturday morning, and she didn't need to get up quite yet. Her special "meeting" at Bueno Nacho wasn't until noonish.

Thoughts of a certain young blonde man made her smile warmly as she drifted back into unconsciousness.

* * *

"Booya, Saturday!" Came the warcry of a certain young blonde man. Normally, he was reluctant to wake up early on any day, but Saturday morning cartoons were a weekend staple for the freckled face. 

With rarely-displayed agility, Ron Stoppable slid down the stairway banister of his childhood home on stocking feet. Reaching the end of the line, he leapt to land on the couch of the rec-room, facing the television. A twist of the foot sent the remote flying up off the floor to be snatched out of the air.

"Rufus, buddy!" He called to his constant companion. "You're gonna miss the start of _Rock Bunnies_! Get that tail in gear!"

A small, pink shape came screaming down the rail behind Ron. With a squeal and an impressive flip, the naked mole rat landed next to the seated teen with a miniature "Booya!"

Ron leaned back and clicked on the television with a flourish of the wrist. He smiled as the light washed over him and the opening credits to his show began.

"Time for some quality vegetation," he relaxed his posture and was mimicked uncannily by the pink-skinned Rufus. The two were inseparable. A tag-team evil-butt-kicking force to be reckoned with, invaluable members of the teen superhero Team Possible. They had saved each other so many times that Ron had lost count.

In fact, as Ron thought about it, he couldn't count the number of times _he_ had saved Rufus during a mission at all. He couldn't count even one. The blond teen frowned as his thoughts quickly wandered from the escape of Saturday morning cartoons. There had to be one time. Sure, Rufus had proved his worth a hundred times over, a crafty little devil that was often overlooked, causing chaos and distraction when they needed it most. But Ron…

The teen sighed as he realized where his thoughts had brought him. Once again, he found himself trying to justify his worth as a sidekick to the incredible Kim Possible, and deep down, his worth as something more. He looked down at the chipper Rufus, gleefully watching the animated silliness in front of him. A miniscule creature that saved the day on a regular basis. Whereas Ron mostly just ran around and lost his pants. What kind of sidekick was he? How could he deserve to work with Kim? How could he deserve to hold her hand?

Ron knew he had potential. It was only two years ago that he attended a secret school in Japan as an exchange student; the Yamanouchi ninja school. There, he rediscovered a hidden power that lay dormant in him. A power that had been bestowed by accident a year prior. He half-jokingly referred to it as "Mystical Monkey Power", having no other words to describe it. It was as though the world around him slowed down, and everything became lighter. The sacred martial art of Tai Shing Pek Kwar came to him as easily as ordering a grande naco. It was ridiculously ironic, he thought, since he had always had a childhood fear of monkeys, that he would end up being some sort of prophesied "Supreme Monkey Master".

He had never truly mastered the power, however. And though it came and went over the years, he could never consistently access its might. Even recently, with the defeat of his longtime arch foe, Monkey Fist, at the hands of his baby sister no less, he had been practically useless. The gurgling Hana Stoppable, even now sleeping in her room, had dispatched him with almost comical ease. Of course, that was because she had been prophesized to be a powerful mystical force onto herself. She had been unwittingly adopted by his family from the Yamanouchi school itself and he had been charged by Sensei, their ancient and wizened leader, to protect and prepare Hana for her future role as a great ninja warrior. All Ron really did was change her diapers once and a while. He just didn't feel up to the task that the world had thrown on him.

He remembered training with his Yamanouchi classmates and the wizened Sensei those years ago, trying to access his "gift", only to fall on his face or lose his pants in the process. Yori, his closest Yamanouchi friend, would always help him up with a smile and a laugh, ever encouraging. And Sensei would take him aside and offer confusing wisdom, always confident in his students. But Ron felt like a fool, even when he did manage to use his mystical monkey power.

Sensei would just smile through his incredibly long beard and bow before the frowning Ron Stoppable. His voice seemed to resonate with the ages.

"Tai Shing Pek Kwar flows like a river through your blood, Stoppable-san. Its power is there always for you. You need only find the balance of the monkey, carefree and childlike."

Ron figured that _kind_ of made sense, since he never seemed to find the power when he tried to, only when he didn't. Kind of like Hana, who used her own innate mystical power so easily, specifically because she was carefree and childlike. But it still felt wrong to him, trying to _be_ like the monkey. Even after all this time he still held on to the irrational fear, like an invisible wall between him and the enlightenment Sensei described. Somehow, he doubted he would ever truly break the block.

Suddenly realizing that he had been ignoring the television, and the amused chortles of a laughing Rufus, Ron tried to brush the concerns away. It was _Saturday morning_, no time to fret over such things. Even though he was no martial arts master, he was still part of Team Possible, and he would _always_ be there for Kim. There was never a doubt in his mind that they would be friends and partners forever.

And something more?

Ron thought of his beautiful Kimberly, the way her green eyes sparkled when she smiled. Her hair, like fire, flowing around her perfect face. Any boy alive would walk over hot coals to be her boyfriend, but for some insane reason she had chosen him, her childhood friend, to be that special someone. There wasn't a day that Ron didn't feel like he was the most undeserving guy on the planet.

He frowned at that thought, and turned to look out the nearby window. A beautiful morning for what promised to be a beautiful day. As usual, the teen couple was planning to meet at the fast food joint, Bueno Nacho, after Ron's cartoon shows. It was his favorite food place and Kim always let him drag her there, over and over.

The remote control came up and the television clicked off. Rufus moaned in annoyance and whirled on Ron with a buck-toothed frown.

"Sorry, buddy," the young man patted his head affectionately. "No cartoons for us this morning. We got some work to do before noon." Rufus was quick to smile in response. He understood that Ron had something important on his mind and would probably need his help.

And with that, the two hopped off the couch.

* * *

Hundreds of miles away, long black curtains managed to keep the unrelenting sunrise from penetrating a darkened bedroom. 

Inside the room, a black-haired woman snored loudly, strewn across a queen-sized bed. Green and black sheets were twisted and flipped from a night of tossing and turning.

Shego rarely slept well.

She rolled over yet again onto her chest, exposing smooth lines of pale green skin running between a grey spaghetti-strapped tank top and matching boxer shorts. She lay there, motionless for a few minutes, breathing deep and regular. Then her eyes opened.

Who was she fooling? She wasn't going back to sleep.

With a groan she pushed herself into a sitting position on her bed. She frowned at her alarm clock.

9:06 AM.

Damn. She had wanted to sleep in. It was going to be another crappy day and she had been drained enough from yesterday. She considered calling in sick and almost laughed at the idea. After all, she lived where she worked. Plus, Drakken would throw a tantrum, particularly since they were in the middle of his latest world domination scheme.

And, sitting next to the alarm clock on the bedside table was a small, round and shiny lump of metal. Shego remembered that she had some unfinished business to take care of today.

The lithe woman extended her arms into the air and arched her back. Ever so slowly, she bent herself over backwards, stretching her body into an arch before rolling over off the bed and onto her feet. One of several yoga exercises she would employ in the mornings, followed by more rigorous physical workout.

Bending and stretching into seemingly uncomfortable positions, Shego went through a practiced routine that she had adopted, like a personal meditation. This was one of the most private events for the typically abrasive women, one that she never shared with anyone.

Rolling up into a standing position, she finished her slow and controlled movements. She then abruptly fell forward onto her hands. She did twenty explosive pushups before flipping herself over and doing twenty quick sit-ups. She stopped to stretch again before repeating the routine. She tried to do this every morning, in addition to her regular workout schedule in the gym.

Finishing her exercises, Shego took a quick shower and brushed her teeth. Wrapping herself in a black towel she sat in front of her vanity and began drying her long black hair. She watched herself in the mirror as she brushed with one hand and blew dry with the other. Her gaze drifted over to the shiny metal rock on her bedside table before coming back to her reflection. She locked onto her emerald eyes and frowned at herself.

Why was she feeling so odd? It was a feeling that had been growing in her gut the last few months. She felt off-balance, as if the iron will she had assumed and latched on to had begun to crack. She was questioning herself. She was questioning her enemies. She was even starting to question her purpose.

No. She had come to understand her purpose a long time ago. She was a tool. A weapon. The universe had chosen her to carry its destructive power. The raging green fire inside her had no other function, except destruction. And no one could tell her otherwise. Not that infuriating idiot Cutter, not her goody-toe-shoe brothers and certainly not the perfect little princess cheerleader, Kim.

Suddenly, Shego realized that she had melted the hairbrush in her hand without thinking. The rage that had welled up dissipated with a resigned sigh. She dropped the ruined brush into the waste basket next to her.

Yes, her purpose in life was clear.

She set about finishing her hair for the day.

* * *

Not too far away inside the same villainous lair, a blue-skinned man with a pony tail woke up in a puddle of his own drool. 

"Zzurgh?" The scarred-faced man jerked his head up off his worktable and rubbed his eyes, hair twisted up from sleeping on it sideways. Dr. Drakken realized he had fallen asleep working on the Reverse Engineering Ray, his latest and most nefarious doomsday device. Naturally, he hadn't gotten very far, since he was missing four extremely important pieces. He had spent much of the evening searching the internet for second-hand suppliers to make up for the fact that Shego had failed to steal the pieces in question for him. Already he had a Nuclear Capacitor Switch on overnight delivery from a surplus military supplier. It had been advertised as "refurbished". There were brand new ones for sale, but they cost _way_ too much. Drakken wasn't made of money, after all.

Which is why he was so thrilled when he managed to find a Quantum Matrix Amplifier up for grabs on Ebay. It never occurred to him how odd the coincidence was, since he had sent Shego to steal the only one in existence. But the seller, one "scissorkid33", had a really good feedback rating.

That left the Reversal Drive. He had scoured the internet, or at least as much as his limited web surfing knowledge allowed him to, and had found nothing. Except of course, on the Hench Co Industries website, the very place he had sent Shego to rob from, only to be met with failure.

Drakken grimaced with the thought of what he had to do.

Wandering over to the massive computer screen that dwarfed everything in the cavernous room. He typed a few commands on the large control panel at its base, one of the few commands he knew for certain how to use on the often confusing supercomputer, and brought up a window of static on the screen. After a few moments of ringing, a pleasantly smiling female face appeared.

"Thank you for calling Hench Co Industries, how may I direct your call?"

Drakken immediately drew himself up straight and fixed the secretary with a malevolent snarl. He raised his fist in the air. "I am _the_ Dr Drakken! And I demand to speak with Jack Hench!" He brought his fist down onto the console with a vicious smash. He immediately retracted his hand, wincing in pain.

The secretary, completely unaffected by his tirade, turned and seemed to read something to her right, typing on a keyboard as she did so. "Drakken… Drakken… D… D…. I don't seem to see... ah, yes!" She turned her unchanging smile back on the fuming megalomaniac. "Mr Hench said he would be expecting your call Dr. Lypsky. Please hold while I put you through." The screen suddenly changed to a picture of the Hench Co logo. Alannah Myles' _Black Velvet _was playing in the background.

Drakken sputtered at the mention of his real name. He took the time to quickly adjust his blue overcoat and tangled head.

The screen changed again, revealing a slick-haired man in an expensive suit. Jack Hench gave Drakken the oily smile of a used car salesman.

"Drew! So good to hear from you. You're looking good. Love what you've done with the hair. The Christopher Lloyd style is a classic."

Caught off guard from the sudden assault, Drakken hardly had time to register his name before his hand went to his hair. He frowned and snapped back to his evil demeanor.

"That's _Dr. Drakken_!" He snarled. "And I have called you with my demands of your company!"

"Of course," Hench's smile never faltered. He pulled a receipt pad and pen out of his suit pocket. "Down to business then. Shall I have the Reversal Drive packaged up and sent priority?"

"Uhh… yes!" The evil scientist straightened and donned an arrogant smile. "Because I demand it!"

"Right…" Hench finished writing in the pad. "That'll come to 3,050.74, but I think I can offer you a discount on the shipping…"

"Th-three thousand dollars?" Drakken almost fell over. "That's outrageous!"

Jack Hench fixed the blue man with a frown. "Lets not forget that I am ignoring the fact you tried to steal from me, _again_. Do you want the discount or not?"

"Err… yes." Drakken winced. "Discount, please."

"Good." Hench smiled. "I'll have that on its way before lunch to your Caribbean lair. Will you be paying with credit card or…"

"Put it on my tab."

Hench narrowed his eyes. "Which brings me to other business; you're last month's bill payment…"

"Check's in the mail! Gotta go, busy busy busy!" Drakken quickly hung up on the open mouthed Hench with an exhale. World domination was easy, dealing with economics was hard. He quickly logged onto Ebay and checked on the status of his bid. Three hours to go and he still was highest. Things were looking up for Drakken. All he would need was the final and probably most important piece, and he had spent part of the night making preparations to get it.

Drakken looked at the clock. 9:52 AM. He tapped his fingers on the console nervously. He had been told to wait until after 10. He rubbed his face in frustration. _He_ was the boss, the evil genius. He was not going to be bullied by his own sidekick. Drakken brought his finger forcefully down on the intercom switch.

"Shego!" He snapped into the microphone.

"Yes?"

"BAH!" Drakken jumped three feet into the air to land cowering behind the computer chair. Leaning against the wall near the doorway was a woman in a figure hugging green and black jumpsuit. Her arms were folded under her breasts and she stared at the blue skinned man with an unimpressed look.

"Ah, yes," Drakken quickly stood brushing himself off. "There you are. Good." He smiled and rubbed his hands together maniacally. "It is time to acquire the fourth and final ingredient for my Reverse Engineering Ray! With it in my grasp, I will be finally able to bring my weapon online!"

"Uh huh," Shego raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you missing the other three ingredients, too, last I checked?"

Drakken straightened and snarled at the green-skinned woman. "Yes, no thanks to _your_ failure, I have been forced to actually _purchase_ the parts from other sources." He spoke the work 'purchase' as if it were poisoned. "They will all be in my grasp within the day."

"Wait a minute," Shego narrowed her eyes at the ranting man. "You _bought_ all the parts I couldn't steal? _All_ of them? Including the Quantum Matrix thingy?"

"The Quantum Matrix Amplifier, yes!" He snapped. "I managed to find one for sale on Ebay. In a mere three hours the bidding will close and the Amplifier will be mine!"

"You mean to tell me, you are trying to buy a priceless piece of stolen technology from some computer nerd on an online auction site?"

The mad scientist frowned at her. "He had a very good rating."

Shego moaned and rubbed her face with a gloved hand.

"But enough about that!" Drakken crossed the massive room to stand before his worktable and the weapon he was constructing on it. "All those pieces are useless without the forth and final one. Today…" He closed his tiny hand into a fist. "We will take it from its guarded location. And no one, not even Kim Possible will be able to stop us!"

"Right," Shego rolled her eyes and stood from the wall. "I'll just go get that then. Be back in a few hours."

"Oh no, Shego." Drakken spun back to face his sidekick with a devious smile. "This time, you won't be going _alone_."

The green thief paused in the doorway. She looked at her employer with a confused frown.

"Say what?"

* * *

Somewhere in Middleton, USA, the young Wade Load surfed through terabytes of information with the grace of an Olympic figure skater. This was his domain, where his mastery was unquestioned. Wade had not come across a system he couldn't hack or a firewall he couldn't circumvent. He was an artist, information was his medium.

Which is why, sitting in his room, the artificial light of a dozen flickering monitors bathing his dark skin, the constant hum of several super-processing power plants filling the void in between the flurry of keyboard tapping, he felt a mounting frustration. He had been chasing a near-invisible electronic trail, trying to soak up any information he could about the so-called Chris Cutter who had been assisting Drakken and Shego the last couple days. But he met a dead end every time, as if something where shadowing his search and cutting the information off at its source before he could reach it. No easy feat, even for a master such as Wade.

The young teen was convinced there was a larger force at work, namely WEE. It was the only thing that made sense. Cutter had to be an operative of the Empire, or at least somehow affiliated with them. No one else had the resources to actively erase information about someone to this degree. No one, that is, except Wade himself.

But that still didn't explain how Drakken had gotten WEE backing. But Wade wasn't about to give up. He had begun to notice patterns in the trail, ones that suggested to him that some sort of complex algorithm was working through the network in an endless feedback loop. He suspected that this "AI", for lack of a better term, actively hunted key phrases and word combinations related to the Worldwide Evil Empire. While a simple enough idea in itself, the reality of programming such a complicated algorithm with enough intelligence and flexibility to monitor the entire world without slowing every internet connection on earth was daunting even to the young super genius. He was garnering respect for his WEE adversary.

Undoubtedly, if the cyber ghost, and programmer of the algorithm, was half as intelligent as Wade suspected, he would be invisible to all standard traces. If he _was_ as intelligent as Wade suspected, he would be invisible to all nonstandard traces as well. Much like Wade himself.

But Wade had built his first supercomputer at the age of five. The government had confiscated it of course and last time he checked, it was being used to control missile defense across North America. That was fine by him. He had made several others since. Each one ten times more powerful then the last.

The child genius leaned back in his comfortable chair. He cracked his fingers and leaned forward again with a smile on his face.

Let the games begin.

* * *

With smooth, precise movements, Kim Possible completed her final Tai Chi form. She stood motionless, one foot in front of the other, arms extended before her. Then, after a moment, she flipped herself over backwards to land one-footed, balancing on her bed post. She didn't stay there very long, as the loose material of her purple pajama bottoms caused her to slip. She hopped down to the floor gracefully and pulled her pants back up around her hips, tightening the cord to keep them there. She was glad no one was around to see the famous Kim Possible loose her pants over a simple back flip. Immediately she thought of Ron and laughed out loud.

Grabbing a towel out of her closet, she left the confines of her room and headed for the bathroom. Unsurprisingly, she found the door locked.

"Tweebs!" She pounded on the door. "You had better get out of there in three seconds or less, or so help me…"

"Busy!" Came the unanimous reply. "Come back in twenty minutes!"

"Mom!" Kim called down the hallway. "It's _my_ turn in the bathroom!"

"Boys, let your sister in to shower." The always friendly voice of Mrs. Possible carried up the stairs. "If you want to continue your sea monkey experiments, do it in the back yard."

A collective groan issued from behind the closed door. Kim crossed her arms and fixed her younger twin brothers, Jim and Tim, with a cold stare as they came moping out of the bathroom. Between them they carried a small fish bowl. Inside it was a shrimp-like creature the size of a fist.

"Eww..." The young woman's face twisted into a grimace and she recoiled from the passing twins. "What the heck is _that_?"

"Sea Monkey." Jim said.

"We accelerated his growth using household chemicals." Tim said. They both smiled at their revolted sister.

"Ugh," she retreated into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She spent a moment shaking off the willies before she could bring herself to even brush her teeth. Immediately following that, she stepped out of her purple bottoms, pulled the matching top over her head and hopped into the shower, trying not to think about what had just been in there.

Instead, as the steaming water cascaded over her body, she thought about Ron. Her best friend since…well, forever. And now, he was her boyfriend. Well, _that_ wasn't news in itself. They had officially been dating for a number of months now. The shock had kind of worn off by this point, for them and for the entire school body. She still remembered the first few weeks; the girls whispering and gasping as they walked down the hallway together, the boys shaking there heads and outright gaping in disbelief. By Bonnie Rockwaller's reasoning, Kim had broken every social code in the book by going out with the bumbling Ron Stoppable.

But why did Kim decide to go out with him? She paused in the act of lathering her red hair. He was, by no means, the kind of guy she was typically attracted to. She thought of Josh Mankey, the popular and artistic dreamboat she had drooled over for the longest time. But then, suddenly, she didn't see him in that light anymore. While a nice guy, and painfully cute, she felt like he was too… aloof. Like he was afraid to just relax and have fun, in case it wasn't "cool". Not like Ron at all, who was almost excruciatingly uncool at times. But he was always himself. In that regard, he was the most fearless person she knew.

She let the hot stream rinse through her hair. She knew he adored her. And they had been best friends for so long, that it almost seemed strange that she hadn't thought about them as anything more then just pals before. Which is what worried her the most. Was she going out with Ron because it just seemed like the next step? Was she doing it because he was her best friend and she knew that he wanted to?

Did she love him?

Kim stood there, naked in the shower, and hated herself for thinking these things. Of course she loved him. She had known him since pre-k. She couldn't imagine life without Ron Stoppable. But… what kind of love was it? Was it romantic? Was she attracted to Ron?

Sure, he had his cute boyish charm and he was quick to smile, not to mention he had a great sense of humor. Plus he was a really good kisser.

Kim blushed at the thought. Her awareness of her nudity suddenly became apparent.

But Ron was also immature. There were times when she grew so very aggravated at his juvenile antics and just wished he would grow up. Of course, that made her feel like the worst person on earth. Ron was the way he was, and that is why she loved him as a friend. But did it keep her from loving him as something else?

She ran body wash over her toned, athletic frame. She was in peak physical condition, stronger then many men her age. It came from hard work and healthy living. Something Ron never really did. Eating at Bueno Nacho almost everyday didn't exactly give him the sexy body of a Josh Mankey.

"Jerk, you're such a jerk…" Kim cursed herself for being so shallow. Picking apart Ron like this made her feel awful. But she couldn't help it. She needed to find a reason why she was going out with him. Her feelings were so confused. Even after months of dating the young man, holding hands when they walked, cuddling when they watched movies and kissing each other goodnight… it still felt the same as when they were just friends. Where was the spark, the fire?

Kim turned off the valve with a sigh. She exited the shower and wrapped her body and hair in her towels and grabbed her discarded clothing. In the end, she just needed a sign that this was the right thing. That she wasn't lying to herself and to Ron. He deserved much more then that.

Back in her room, she went through the motions of drying and styling her hair, picking an outfit and dressing. She felt hollow as she did so, like she was going to a funeral. It didn't help that she was going to go meet Ron at Bueno Nacho, _again_ (after he finished watching his precious cartoons). She knew that it was his favorite place, but she grew sick of it after a while.

Ending up in khaki shorts and a blue tank top, Kim exited her room and headed down the stairs. She entered the kitchen, planning on getting an apple to munch on the way.

"Hey mom, hey dad." She barely acknowledged her parents, seated at the table as she headed for the fridge. "I'm going to go meet Ron at Bueno, I'll probably…"

"Nah-uh," came a reply that cut her off. "You'll be doing nothing of the kind."

Kim paused and looked at the table in surprise, just then noticing the third person seated at it. Ron Stoppable beamed back at her. Her father, his newspaper folded over, smiled in tangent with her mother at the confused teen.

"Ron?" Kim's eyebrows cocked. "I thought we were going to meet at…"

"Change of plans, KP." He reached down beside him to grab a large wicker basket and stood from the table, while her parents shared a knowing smile. "We are going on a picnic. Just you and me."

Kim stood, staggered. _He made a picnic_.

"Oh, Kimmie," her mother piped up, "I hope you don't mind. Ronald brought you these, so I put them in water for you." She motioned to a bouquet of lilacs, sitting in a vase on the kitchen counter.

Ron shrugged sheepishly. "I just… you know, felt like giving you flowers. It seemed like the thing to do. No big, right?"

Kim knew that he must have given up his morning for this, cartoons and all. She looked at him, seeing the plain adoration in his soft brown eyes. At that moment, she felt like the most important thing in the world. He frowned, uncertainly.

"Hey… you ok, Kim?"

Kim smiled at his adorable face and bit her lip to keep from crying.

"I'm perfect, Ron. Just perfect."

* * *

Not too many miles south of Middleton was the town of Lowerton, USA. It lacked any truly great landmarks, famous residents or historical significance, particularly when compared to its northern brothers. It did not have the extensive cultural amenities of Middleton, such as the Middleton Museum, the Middleton Space Center, or the Middleton Institute of Technology. Likewise did it lack the predominately more wealthy inhabitants of Upperton and the widespread monuments, landmarks and gorgeous rolling parkland that came with them.

Lowerton was primarily home to working class folk, and sported a larger industrial backbone then both Middleton and Upperton combined. And despite an often fierce competition between the Lowerton Lemurs and the Middleton Mad Dogs, the people of Lowerton were generally considered to be some of the friendliest, most down-to-earth people in the state.

Because of their focus on industry, Lowerton _did_ boast one of the biggest manufacturing bodies in the area, along with all the related commerce. Planet Tool, considered the largest and most extensive hardware and tool store on the planet, called Lowerton its home along with a few other super specialty stores that couldn't be found anywhere else in the country. Gearheads and enthusiasts often came for miles to take advantage of their wares.

Outside one such specialty store, hidden behind a small dumpster, sat a black motorcycle. It was an aggressive-looking sport bike, painted in unmarked black except for the exposed silver and chrome engine and exhaust pieces. It was a heavily modified Kawasaki Ninja, so much so that its lines were almost unrecognizable except to the more knowledgeable of bike enthusiasts. And even then, they would immediately recognize the large sums of money that had been sunk into the machine to transform it into something unique.

Leaning against the bike was a figure dressed in a black two-piece biker suit. His leather pants had a reflective silver line, running down the side of the leg to his black boots. His matching leather jacket had geometric patterns of the same reflective silver material sown in various strategic locations; his shoulders, forearms, chest and back, to increase rider visibility. He wore black riding gloves, which he even then was in the process of removing. On his head, sat a matte black, full faced helmet with a reflective mirror shield pulled down over his eyes.

The biker stared in the direction of the store as his gloves were pulled off, one at a time. He had just arrived at this spot for the fifth time this morning. He had been watching and waiting, leaving to circle the block a few times, finding a wireless hotspot to check his online auction, before coming back to sit. He had been driving most of the evening, stopping only once to shower and change at a cheap hotel room before coming straight here. The biker hadn't slept. He didn't sleep often.

It had been a long wait, and not for the first time the biker questioned if he was even in the right spot. He no longer had his piece of paper and thus was relying on memory of what it had said. He was almost 75 positive that this was where he was supposed to be.

Hidden behind the mirror, the biker chewed his lip. He still wasn't sure if this was a good idea or not. Truth be told, he was sort of winging it at this point. Not for the first time, he wished that he had more experience in this field. Hell, _any_ experience would do. All he could do was observe how others handled it and try to emulate them. So far it had been an incredible failure, but he blamed that on his own cowardice and foolishness.

But was he foolish for even undertaking the challenge in the first place?

Another fifteen minutes passed and no answers presented themselves.

The biker growled at himself. He had waited all morning like an idiot for something that probably wouldn't happen, in more ways then one. He stood and straddled his bike intending to leave for the last time.

Then it happened.

The biker's helmeted head swung to look at the store as the one he had been waiting for finally arrived. He stared in mute surprise at what he saw.

This was most definitely not good.

* * *

They strolled through the beautiful parkland, hand in hand. There were others out and about; children, parents, walkers and joggers, but they could have been a hundred miles away for all Kim cared.

Ron carried the big basket in his other hand. He had insisted on it, even though Kim was the stronger of the two. In fact, he had tried to carry everything at first, trying to be the gentleman, even if it made him look goofy. In addition to the basket, there had also been a blanket, two chairs, a tiny fold-up card table, a pair of candle sticks and a battery-operated boombox with a burnt CD of romantic music. Kim had convinced him that all they needed was the blanket. She had even managed to get him to let her carry it.

As they casually wandered through the park, searching for an isolated spot for their picnic, Kim couldn't stop herself from looking at Ron. Whenever he caught her gaze she would blush furiously and smile like an idiot. What was with her? Not an hour ago she was deciding whether or not to break up with Ron, and now, the very sensation of her hand in his was giving her butterflies. What had changed?

"Oh look, Kim!" Ron released her hand to point, which left her surprisingly sad with the loss. "The perfect spot!"

Sure enough, it _was_ the perfect spot. A tall oak tree stood over a small grassy hill. Its strong branches reached up and over to create a natural shaded shelter in which to sit, looking out over the whole park. Kim suddenly felt giddy at it all and grabbed Ron's hand, leading him running and laughing all the way up the hill. Both teens were panting slightly when they reached the top. Kim dropped the blanket she had in her hand and fell onto the grass with a sigh.

"Aw, Kim," Ron scolded her lightheartedly. "What's the point of bringing the blanket if you just roll around in the grass, and get all…. grassy."

She rolled over and watched him unfold the blanket, taking care to place it just right to take full advantage of the shade and the view. She giggled at him. He was trying so hard. He was so adorable.

"Alright, gigglepuss," he smiled at her as he sat down with the basket. "Get your butt on the blanket so we can eat."

Kim was more then happy to hop over to sit close to him. For some reason their nearness felt more exciting then ever before. She looked into his brown eyes and saw him swallow. He felt it too.

"Uh… sh-shall we get started, then?" Ron tried to turn his attention to the basket, which he opened with a flourish. "Allow me to blow you away with the finest cuisine Chief Ronald has to offer." With the comical grace of a snobbish French waiter, he pulled the various items from the wicker basket and presented them before Kim before placing them on the blanket. "First off, we have a bottle of sparkling white cranberry and peach juice, mixed with just a hint of gingered ale to give it the fake texture of fine champagne."

Kim laughed at that. She wondered if Ron even knew what real champagne tasted like. It wouldn't have surprised her if he did.

"Next, we have a finely diced fruit salad, a mixture of apples, strawberries, grapes, bananas, kiwi fruit and apricots. Perfect for desert or as a side dish."

Kim eyed the tupperware container with interest. She definitely wouldn't be waiting until desert to eat that.

"Ah, yes. And here we have a fine French loaf, cut into several slices for three or even four separate sandwiches, if one were so inclined."

Ron set the wrapped half-baguette next to the basket and reached in again.

"And, of course, one cannot make a sandwich without the proper ingredients. We have the gourmet cheeses, fine bologna, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, let's see…" he rifled through the basket. "I also brought some alfalfa sprouts, my dad likes to put them on sandwiches, they're pretty good, actually. Oh, and some turkey breast. Hm… ah, right. I got some standard condiments, mustard, relish, mayonnaise. Uh, I wasn't sure if you preferred the regular or low fat type, so I brought both. Oh, I snagged some Diablo sauce, you know… in case you want to spice things up. And check this out… wetnaps! Booyah!"

Kim sat mute. A simple enough spread, but she could tell he had put a lot of thought and spent a lot of time on it, and that made it the greatest meal she could have ever had asked for.

"This is really wonderful, Ron." She snuggled in closer to him. "I can't tell you how great this all is."

"Yeah well," Ron shrugged, "Rufus helped a lot. The little guy knows how to cut him some fruit."

"Where is Rufus? You didn't bring him?"

Ron smiled. "Nah, the little guy is babysitting Hana. I told you, KP, it's just you and me. So… should we dig in or…?"

Kim kissed him, cutting him off mid speech. The breeze rustled through the trees and the birds sung. Far off, the laughter of children could be heard. But all Kim noticed was the feel of Ron's lips against hers.

They pulled apart with a mutual gasp. Kim felt Ron shudder. She knew that her face had to be as red as his was.

"Kim, I…" They stared into each other's eyes. This is what had been missing. The spark. The heat. They had always hung out together as best buds and had gone on official "dates" many times in the past months. But never before had it been so romantic, so perfect. Ron never did things like this with Kim, at least not without her prodding him before hand. It seemed so out of character and yet, so perfectly "Ron". It was like he had taken that small step towards her, the one that had kept them plutonic, even as boyfriend and girlfriend. With one amazing sign of sincere courtship, he had broken the stalemate of friendship and brought them into new territory.

The silence stretched and awkwardness set in. They both felt the change and now, suddenly, everything was weird.

"Um… sandwich?" Kim suggested.

"Sandwich." Ron agreed, with a bashful smile. Kim couldn't believe how adorable he was. Why did she suddenly notice it now?

They both reached for the bread at the same time. Their hands touched.

They retracted them immediately, avoiding each others eyes. Kim started to wonder if they were really better off now. Would they ever feel comfortable together ever again?

"Ron…" She finally met his gaze. "If this is too…"

The chime of the Kimmunicator was the last thing she had wanted to hear at that moment. She brought her wrist to her face angrily.

"What, Wade?"

The young man leaned back slightly, his eyes wide. "Is this a bad time?"

Kim rubbed her face and silently chastised herself for snapping at the well-meaning friend. "No, sorry Wade. What's up?"

"Just thought you should know, while I was doing more WEE research, I got a hit about a robbery taking place in Lowerton, right now."

"Alright." Kim frowned at the wonderful picnic Ron had made for her. She looked at Ron, who smiled sadly. He knew what was coming. "Can't the police handle it?"

The young freckled face on the tiny screen winced.

"No… they can't."

* * *

She calmly walked through the front doors without pretense. A place like this simply wasn't prepared for anyone like her. She got a couple odd looks, more then one of them lingering on her behind. A vicious stare sent their heads spinning away, trying to pretend they hadn't been ogling her.

The building was quite large. The largest of its kind, in fact. She couldn't tell if that was impressive or just plain pathetic. Rows upon rows of shelves stretched out in either direction. On them, sat every type of fastener known to man.

She continued straight until she came upon the first pimple-faced teenager in a green vest. He was climbing down a ladder, leaned up against one of the many tall shelves. Upon noticing her, he practically fell off. A yellow nametag on his vest read "Charlie".

"Hey, Chuck." She smiled icily at the hormone-driven fool. "I was wondering if you could help me find something?"

Charlie looked her up and down with his jaw agape. She let it slide on account that he was at that age where he could probably get aroused just by watching the powerpuff girls.

"Wha-ma-wa-welcome to the _Bolt Bin_, the worlds largest fastener specialty store, h-how can I help?" The teen licked his dry lips as he stuttered through his standard greeting.

"Yeah, I'm looking for a silver-plated, three-quarter inch, metric machine bolt." She sighed in embarrassment at having been forced to waste her substantial talents on such a pathetic item as a bolt. She silently cursed her employer. "Have any?"

"Um… three-quarter? Silver-plated?" The teen rubbed his sparsely populated chin as though it were a lumberjack beard, his flirtations were laughable. "We may have a couple in the back. I'll have to get my manager to…"

"No, don't bother." Shego snapped her fingers.

An army of red-suited henchmen swarmed the building, coming in through every entrance. As well, twenty odd robotic figures, known as Syntho Drones, came crashing in the windows and jumping down from newly-blasted holes in the ceiling. Shego smiled despite herself at the ridiculous overkill.

"We'll just get it ourselves."

* * *

_To Be Continued… as usual. The next one is going to be NUTS, if all goes according to plan. Lines will be drawn! Secrets will be revealed! Emotions will be laid bare! Obvious plot twists will be made even more obvious! It will be the end of the first arc in the Secret Shame Saga! And I promise action._

_Glorious, glorious action._


	5. Part Five: Fastenating

Release Notes:

I realize that I should stop babbling so much about my stories before hand and just let you read the damn thing. Make your own judgements.

* * *

**Part Five: ****Fastenating**

The day had started out well enough.

For Charlie Phillips, junior manager of the Bolt Bin and teenage son to the store's founder, Seymour Phillips, his short shift at the world's largest fastener specialty store had begun uneventfully. He opened the store at 10 am with his father's key and made sure they were properly staffed for the Saturday. It was a lot of responsibility for a 16-year-old, but Seymour Phillips had never believed in coddling his son. If he was to earn the substantial inheritance of the Bolt Bin some day, he would have to work through its ranks from the ground up.

Even then, most employees to the specialty store would comment that Charlie got "special" treatment. His shifts were only four hours long and more often then not, few and far between. He had been promoted to junior manager and had been saddled with various responsibilities beyond his age and experience. Charlie didn't see this as special treatment, however. He was a teenager, after all, and felt like the world owed him a free ride.

Nevertheless, he got along with practically all the staff at the Bin, with the notable exception of his Manager, who obviously resented him for being groomed to be his boss one day. Charlie was a likeable boy, and oddly enough, had a knack for nuts and bolts, though he would never admit it to anyone. He was usually the go-to kid when someone needed something exotic or unusual in a fastener, having an almost encyclopedic knowledge of the field. He blamed his heritage, growing up in a nut and bolt family. His grandpa was one of the nation's bolt pioneers and had made his livelihood selling threaded fasteners door to door. His mother had been a rubber washer heiress when she met her father at a national hardware convention. His uncle was into staples... he was the black sheep of the family.

Charlie, however, tried to deny his ultimate destiny. Though he understood fasteners like the back of his hand, he couldn't help but feel there was more to life. Always a dreamer, he constantly wished for something to happen that would permanently shake his foundations. Something that would alter his life forever.

And then, _she_ walked into the store.

Charlie had never seen anyone like her before, dressed head to toe in green and black. Long dark hair swept down her back, teasing along her hard, curved body. Her skin, the color of a pale green harbor mist, was smooth and exotic. Her lips, painted as black as her hair, were turned into a frown. She stalked through the isle, coming directly towards him. Her dark green eyes, seeming to sparkle with an otherworldliness, bored into his.

She came to a stop before him and stood with one hand on her hip. She glanced at his nametag while he continued to stare at her in shock.

"Hey, Chuck," came the smooth, if annoyed, voice that played on his backbone like a xylophone. "I was wondering if you could help me find something."

Charlie mumbled and stuttered at the woman. The only response he could formulate was the standard store greeting he had been forced to memorize and repeat to all the customers.

"Wha-ma-wa-welcome to the _Bolt Bin_, the worlds largest fastener specialty store, h-how can I help?" He licked his suddenly dry lips. For some reason, he felt he needed a drink of water. Cold water.

The green woman continued as though he hadn't spoken. "Yeah, I'm looking for a silver-plated, three-quarter inch, metric machine bolt. Have any?" She seemed to growl as she asked, as if annoyed at the whole world.

Charlie's mind raced. It was perfect. This gorgeous, foreign woman needed his help, and with a _bolt_! His lame life as a Bolt Bin kid had culminated into this one moment when his useless knowledge could be used to impress this angel, who had come to save him from the monotony that was his world.

"Um… three-quarter? Silver-plated?" Charlie rubbed a hand over his goatee and tried to play it smooth. He had been growing it for a week now. The muscle mags under his bed said that it was a chick magnet. "We may have a couple in the back. I'll have to get my manager to…"

The woman cut him off. "Oh no, don't bother." She raised her free hand and snapped her fingers with an amazingly loud pop. Charlie swore he saw green sparks fly from the fingertips.

Suddenly, all hell broke loose.

The building shuddered as twin explosions rained down debris from the ceiling. Charlie ducked and looked up to see strange-looking men in red and black suits come leaping through the newly created holes. Simultaneously, other men came charging through the aisles from all directions, shouting and chanting "Hut-Hut-Hut" as they filled the store.

He looked up at the standing woman, who hadn't even flinched during the invasion. A tiny smirk raised her black lips.

"We'll just get it ourselves."

Charlie moaned. His dad was going to _kill_ him.

* * *

Dr. Drakken hopped from one foot to the other with excitement and hummed a merry tune. Alone in his secret lair, built into a mountain on a remote Caribbean island, he scurried from his work bench to a giant computer monitor and back again. On the massive screen was a live feed from his robotic Synthodrones that, even then, were storming the Bolt Bin a thousand miles away. Then, with mounting pleasure, he would skip over to his workbench to fawn over the two packages he had received in the morning by express post. 

One had been the Reversal Drive, courtesy of Hench Co Industries. It had arrived so quickly - almost cartoonishly so - that Drakken hardly had time to fret over how easily the courier had found his supposedly "secret" lair.

"Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy…" he rubbed his small hands together with an awful smile before reaching for a crowbar. "Someone has been a _baaad_ boy this year!" Drakken practically attacked the wooden crate.

About the size of a toaster oven, the Drive was the shape of a large Aspirin tablet with various plugs and wires protruding from either end. Drakken giggled and popped the bubblewrap that had been used to safely package the device. Jack Hench knew how to do business that was for sure. The mad scientist plucked at the large sheet of paper that was wedged into the now-empty crate. Hardly taking a moment to look at it, he let the invoice drop to the ground with a distasteful grimace.

"Oh… but I havn't forgotten you," he sauntered over to a much smaller, cardboard box. "You are just as important as…" Drakken paused as he lifted the dented package. "Eh?" He shook it suspiciously. There was the unmistakable sound of loose metal.

"What the..." The blue-skinned man tore the small box open and pulled out its contents: a small metal cube. The Nuclear Capacitor Switch. He held the piece in his hands and scrutinized it carefully. There were numerous dents and scratches on the Switch and upon shaking it again near his ear, he verified the rattling noise.

"Phff.." he snorted angrily, "_refurbished_ my butt." The Switch was carelessly tossed onto the worktable. Taking up the majority of the surface was the very weapon these parts would help bring to fruition. Drakken ran his gloved hands along the sleek surface of his invention-in-progress.

"Soon, my dearest… soon you will make the world tremble." He spoke as if to a bedded lover. "But not before you're trial run on _Kim Possible_!" He raised a fist into the air and struck a defiant pose. "Once my _Reverse Engineering_ _Ray_ is complete, she will rue the day she crossed Dr. Drakken!"

Then he blinked as he remembered something.

"Oh… right!" The mad scientist scurried over to the massive supercomputer. Taking hardly a moment to verify that the Synthodrones were operating normally, he quickly opened a window and logged onto the internet. In a few hesitant keystrokes he had successfully signed onto an online auction.

"Come on, come on… yes!" The blue-skinned man actually clicked his heels when he saw that he was still the highest bidder on the _Quantum Matrix Amplifier_, and with only twenty minutes to close. It was as good as his!

"Once I have the Amplifier in my possession, I will only need the bolt! And then my doomsday device will be complete!" Drakken suddenly realized that he was ranting to an empty room. He looked around sheepishly for someone to listen, but the lair was empty. He had sent practically everyone to the _Bolt Bin_. Shego had groaned and complained about the redundancy of sending an entire army to take over a hardware store, and for a single bolt no less. But Drakken had enough failures from the woman in the past two days that he easily overrode her criticisms and sent the whole crew on its way. There was no way that the blasted Kim Possible could stop him from gaining that final piece. Not with such a force to back up Shego.

First the _Amplifer,_ and then the bolt, would be his. He giddily watched as the online auction counted down to closure.

Things were looking up for Drakken.

* * *

Outside the warehouse-sized building of the Bolt Bin, two large transport hovercrafts sat empty. One had landed on the roof after firing two small explosive charges. The other hand landed in the parking lot next to a minivan. It had triple-parked several handicap spaces. 

On the ground, dozens of red-suited henchmen had come squeezing out of the cramped quarters carrying glowing energy batons. Though they were professional henchmen, they moved with a barely concealed chaos due to the fact that they hadn't been briefed on the operation more then five hours ago. All that Drakken had told them was that they would be storming an enemy stronghold to retrieve a valuable item. None of them had expected to be taking over a nut and bolt store. Nevertheless, they had snapped into the loose formation that their green-suited combat leader had drilled into them during the flight and they poured into the building.

Out of the roof hovercraft had come the much more silent, and much more precise, movements of Drakken's Synthodrones; synthetic robot warriors with the strength of four regular men and the unfeeling precision of computer-controlled logic. Durable, untiring, and infinitely loyal. They were the cream of the evil mad scientist's terrible crop. Into the holes they had dropped without a word, following the program they each had loaded into their electronic brains.

Also, as had been detailed by their combat leader (despite her being thrust into the role by surprise little over an hour ago) three of the red-suited henchmen guarded the alley fire exit of the large store. Their names were Sam, Billy and John, though they were known as the numbers 402, 676 and 379 in Drakken's private henchman army. All three milled around in front of the door, one with a cigarette in his mouth, looking anything but military. The only thing that ruined the effect of three blue collar workers on their coffee break was the identical unflattering red jumpsuits that they wore.

The henchman whose name was Sam stood facing the other two. He took a deep draw from his cigarette and exhaled a swirling mass of blue smoke.

"Susan Sarandon in _The Witches of Eastwick_." He said, matter-of-factly.

"Get out." The henchman whose name was Billy leaned forward on the concrete step he sat on.

"It's true. I even wrote her a letter." He took another drag.

"Michelle Pfeiffer was in that movie, wasn't she?" The henchman whose name was John stayed leaning against the wall. "I remember having the biggest crush on _her_."

"Aw man. That is weak. I can't believe you would pick Susan Sarandon."

Sam shrugged and took another drag.

"Me, I would go with Claudia Schiffer. I had the sweetest poster of her on my bedroom…"

"You know," John almost yawned as he spoke, "she had a couple kids."

"Well… yeah…" Billy rolled his eyes. "But that's not the point. Once upon a time, she was totally…"

"How long we gotta stay here?" Sam crushed his spent cigarette under his foot. "The witch didn't say how long this thing is supposed to take."

The seated henchman spun around to look behind him at the mention of the nickname they all secretly used for Drakken's female sidekick, as if expecting her to be listening to them at that very moment. More then one of them had felt the painful results of her short temper.

"No clue." John shrugged, still leaning. "I didn't even know we had a job until _the kid_ here shook me awake like it was Christmas or some damn thing." He nodded in the direction of the seated Billy. He was only two years younger then them, but the pet name had stuck.

Billy snorted at him. "Well it's not my fault you sleep through role call. If I hadn't got you up, you'd still be stuck at the lair."

"Oh, heaven forbid." He said dryly.

"I'll tell you what, though." Sam grumbled. "I'm tired of being treated like a damn peon by that green-faced witch." Once again, Billy spun around to look. "The next time she snaps at me like I'm a dog… I'm gonna slap her in the mouth!"

John snorted in amusement. Billy simply looked shocked.

"She'd…. _murder_ you." Billy almost whispered.

"Phff," Sam pulled a cigarette carton out of his pocket and knocked another white stick into his hand. "I ain't afraid of some green-skinned freak of nature. _Someone_ needs to smack that witch right in the…"

Both Billy and John stared in shock as Sam was lifted into the air. His words cut off with a gasp and his cigarette fell to the ground.

Standing behind him, as if out of thin air, stood a figure in a black and silver, two piece biker suit. His head was covered in a matte-black helmet and they could see their own dumbstruck expressions in the reflective mirror shield that was pulled down over his face. His right arm, extended before him to hold the wheezing Sam by scruff of his red coveralls, hardly moved as the panicked henchman kicked his airborne legs. A black-booted foot came down to grind the fresh cigarette into the pavement.

The helmet turned to look up at the squirming man.

"I'd watch my mouth if I were you," came the muffled voice. "Otherwise, someone might be li'ble to break it." Then Sam went flying into the wall with a painful _thump_. He dropped to the ground not unlike a crash test dummy.

The other two henchmen's heads turned in sync to look at the standing biker. The helmet stared back at them.

"I need to get inside, if that's ok."

Henchman Billy sputtered and jumped to his feet. He pawed the energy baton seated next to him and lunged at the biker with a shout.

The biker, almost casually, reached forward and grabbed the man in midair. Billy was lifted and thrown overhead to land on top of the laying Sam with a cry. The man on the bottom exhaled fiercely at the impact and then moaned loudly. Both remained on the ground.

The helmet turned to look at the remaining henchman, still leaning against the wall next to the fire escape. John regarded the biker calmly. He shrugged his shoulders and nodded at the door.

"Be my guest."

* * *

Shego clenched her teeth impatiently as the pimple-faced Charlie scurried through the warehouse storage area in the back of the Bolt Bin. Normally off limits to the general public, Shego could understand why. Where the front of the store looked neat and inviting (as much as hundreds of shelves of bolts and nuts could be, anyway) the back was a chaos of boxes and exposed structure. It was a wonder that the bumbling teen even knew where he was going.. 

Standing around her, like silent statues, were several of the Sythodrones. The size and shape of tall, muscular men, they had no face beyond the glowing white orbs that acted as eyes. They didn't move in the slightest and would continue to stay that way until she gave them an order. She considered telling them to dance, just to see if they would do it.

Shego's annoyance grew. If she had worn a watch, she would have checked it several times by now. Instead she crossed her arms, tapped her toes, and shot daggers at the searching Charlie.

But it wasn't the fact that the teen was taking so long finding the bolt that was making her angry. The awful truth was; she felt like she had been stood up. She had been expecting someone specific to make an appearance at the robbery, besides the inevitable Kim Possible. Shifting to the other foot, she thought about the slight weight in her ankle pouch. She wasn't sure why she had even brought it. Hell... she wasn't sure why she had even kept it at all.

Growling at the absent man, as well as herself for even caring, she whirled on the silent Synthodrones.

"I'm going to go check on the _henches_," she spoke loud enough for Charlie to hear, "stay here and guard the boy. If he doesn't find the bolt in fifteen minutes, _kill_ him." The greasy-haired teen, half inside a box, squeaked loudly and threw himself back into the search with increased abandon.

Shego took a step towards the swinging doorway that lead back into the store. She paused for a moment and turned slightly towards the waiting Drones.

"Don't actually kill him." She spoke just loud enough for them to hear and then exited through the doors.

Shego wandered through the interconnecting aisles of the Bolt Bin. Every once and a while she would come across a pocket of henchmen, milling around and talking amongst themselves. Upon noticing her, they immediately hushed and tried to look professional, some even snapping to attention. She would fix them with a cold stare, like she always did, and continued on her way. They would start mumbling almost immediately after she passed. Shego knew what the henchmen called her behind her back. She told herself that she didn't care. She had been called worse in her life.

Besides the henchmen and the Synthodrones who had effectively locked down the building, there were also the trapped customers and employees. Many of them continued on as if there were nothing out of the ordinary. And as long as they didn't leave until the robbery was over, Shego had no problem with that. The store was simply too big to try and police the civilians. Just as she had told Drakken when he had named her "combat leader" of the idiot task force he had assembled; all the henchmen and all the Drones he had sent with her were completely useless.

The green thief found herself in an empty corner of the store. There, she sat on the floor and propped herself up against the wall. She heard a disembodied voice call for a price check on 7/16 machine screws over the store's PA system.

Shego's anger deflated as she sat alone. The whole situation was downright depressing. A respected international super-thief, forced to steal from a hardware store. Not only that, but she was expected to baby-sit all these idiots.

And the whole reason she had wanted to come here in the first place had ended up being a bust. Cutter hadn't shown his idiot face, if nothing else, so she could punch it again.

Shego sighed. She hoped Kimmie got there soon. So she had _something_ useful to do.

* * *

Kim Possible cranked the steering wheel hard to her left. The purple super-car squealed into a controlled power slide and made it through the intersection without loosing speed. In the passenger seat beside her, Ron Stoppable gripped onto the armrests as though his life depended on it. His brown eyes could not possibly have gotten any wider. 

"Kim!" He practically squeaked. "Take it easy! We'll get there!"

Kim's own bright green eyes were narrowed into slits, her narrow jaw jutted forward in focused fury. She pushed the acceleration pedal that much harder and the car roared down the street.

Ron moaned and closed his eyes. He didn't see Kim get this upset often, and when she did he most certainly didn't like it. Not at all.

It had all started when Wade had interrupted their picnic date with a Drakken robbery in progress. He had been disappointed, sure, after all he had put a fair bit of work into the surprise lunch for Kim. He had wanted to do something nice and romantic for his girlfriend and all around best bud. It had just occurred to him that morning that he never really did things like that for her, like she was a real girlfriend and not just a friend that he hung out with.

But Kim, she had been _infuriated_ by the interruption. He wished he understood why, so he could help calm her down. However, at that moment all he could focus on was not throwing up.

Another gut-wrenching turn and the high-tech automobile shot through a narrow alleyway. Barely avoiding a garbage dumpster and the black motorcycle parked beside it, they squealed into a large parking lot. There, they saw the Bolt Bin with a familiar set of hovercraft vehicles parked up front and up on the roof.

"Aw, they parked in a handicapped spot!" Ron shook his head. "That's just… evil."

"We're going in." Kim said simply. She revved her engine. "Hold on, Ron."

The blonde-haired teen stared at her incredulously. And then the car lunged forward with a roar.

In front of the main entrance to the specialty store stood four of Drakken's henchman and two Synthodrones. As the purple care came careening towards them, the men were quick to run out of the way. The Drones, however, didn't flinch.

"Hey, Ron." Kim spoke sideways. "Those guys are Synthos, right?"

"Uhh… yeah." He braced himself as the car continued to roar towards the double glass doors.

"Good." She reached forward and flipped one of the many switches on the dashboard. "I _hate_ Synthos."

The car's bumper folded out and a thick ram bar rose into place.

* * *

"I usually use just a hint of basil. Just enough to fit between two fingers." 

"Huh," the other henchmen nodded. "I'll have to get that recipe from you."

Then they heard the squeal of tires.

Almost in slow motion, both men turned to look at the pair of double glass doors they were guarding. Through it, they could see the four other henchmen outside the store quickly jump in either direction while the two Drones remained motionless. A high-pitched whine grew steadily in volume, quickly becoming recognizable as the roar of an approaching engine.

As they stared in mute shock, a purple car came smashing through the door and the two stationary robots in an explosion of metal, glass and synthogel. The vehicle came to a sudden, skidding halt not three feet in front of them. The Drones were completely splattered across the front of the car.

The two henchmen stood with their jaws agape. They blinked when car's wipers came up to clear the oily liquid from the windshield, revealing the two teens seated inside. The passenger was frozen with one hand on the dash and the other pressed into the ceiling, his expression a mirror of their own. The driver, on the other hand, glowered at them over her steering wheel.

"I have a feeling we're in trouble." Said the first henchman.

* * *

Elswhere in the store, the biker stood in a broom closet unstrapping his black helmet when he heard the explosion. Above him hung a single light bulb, still swinging from when he had pulled on its metal cord. The helmet turned to look at the doorway, as if he could see the cause of the commotion through it. 

"Aw… nuts." Came the muffled voice.

He quickly pulled the helmet off his head and came out of the closet.

* * *

Charlie snapped up in shock at the sound of the crash, surrounded in opened boxes of bolts. He stared through the unflinching Drones towards the swinging doorway that lead to the front of the store. He moaned and hung his head. 

"Dad is going to kill me… _again_."

* * *

Several dozen red-suited henchmen swarmed the car from all sides, glowing energy batons in their hands. The driver side door was kicked open, connecting hard with one of the men and sent him sprawling into a lock washer display case. Kim Possible grabbed onto the door's edge and flipped herself out and onto the top of the vehicle, hardly taking a moment's pause before leaping off the roof in a devastating spinning kick. Into the fray she went, blocking, jumping, punching and throwing henchmen left and right. 

Inside the car, Ron Stoppable struggled with his own door, not exactly sure how to unlock the high-tech device.

"Uh… KP?" He tugged on the jamb. "A little help? The door seems to be…"

A large man in a red jumpsuit appeared in the window next to him.

"Ahh! Kim! Sidekick in trouble!" The henchman smiled viciously at the trapped teen, and pounded his fist on the roof of the car. Ron frantically tried flipping switches on the dash.

A large spotlight rack folded up out of the roof of the car and lit up the store, blinding one enemy enough for Kim to sweep his legs out from under him. Then a puddle of grease pooled behind the car, causing two other henches to slip and fall with a pair of shouts. And then, a cloud of pink gas hissed out from underneath the car to surround the immediate area around it. Five more henchmen went down, including the large one outside Ron's door, knocked out cold.

Kim covered her mouth, just outside the area of affect, as the gas quickly dissipated. Between herself and Ron, they had quickly incapacitated the entire first wave of attackers.

"Good job, Ron." Kim smiled at her partner, just then climbing out of the vehicle.

"Yeah, 's right!" He gingerly stepped over the unconscious bruiser to stand tall and proud. "The Ron man is in _da house_!"

The redhead's face hardened again. "Now, let's go find Shego so we can get back to…"

"Marco…" Came the warning call, seconds before a fireball of green plasma exploded on the spot where Kim had just been standing. She landed in a crouch, facing the new opponent.

"Polo." She replied icily.

Shego stood high atop one of the store shelves. Both her hands glowed and flared with green energy. The dark haired woman smiled just as coldly at her long time nemesis.

"I was wondering when you'd finally get here, Princess. _Seriously_… I was starting to get bored."

"You picked the wrong day, Shego." Kim growled. "I was on a _date_."

"_A_ _date_?" The green woman looked incredulous. "With the _buffoon_, there?"

"Hey!" Ron piped up.

Shego smiled, not too unkindly. "So… what? He take you to Bueno Nacho, _again_?"

"No." Kim straightened and raised her chin defiantly. "He took me on a _picnic_."

"Ugh, a picnic?" The thief shook her head. "How cliché is that?"

"It was very sweet and _totally_ romantic, I'll have you know." She quickly defended Ron. "And I loved every minute of it until _you_ ruined it."

"I probably did you a favor, Kimmie." Shego relaxed into a crouch on the shelf, her hands extinguished. "Saved you from a bore…"

"Stop it!" Kim suddenly shouted, causing the green woman to jerk. "Stop talking like we're friends! We're not friends, Shego. Not anymore."

They looked at each other in silence for a few moments. Shego's expression was unreadable.

"You're right, Princess." She slowly straightened. "We're not friends." Her head raised up and she shouted out into the store. "Synthodrones! Attack!"

From seemingly all directions, the dark red forms emerged. Their glowing orbs were locked on the combat-posed Kim Possible as they closed on her.

"I'd love to stay and play, Kimmie. But I've got a job to do. Maybe next time, Kiddo." The green woman turned and leapt off the shelf, disappearing into the maze of aisles. Kim stood her ground, and Ron was quick to join her, as the robotic warriors encircled them. They moved with the controlled choreography of swarming bees.

"I really _hate_ Synthos, Ron." The beautiful young woman spoke.

"Yeah… I remember." He sighed. And for a brief instant, he almost felt a pang of sympathy for the approaching robots.

* * *

Shego quickly made her way towards the back of the store and the stupid bolt that she hoped was back there. She had thought she was in a bad mood before, but now she was really miserable. She just wanted to get the heck out of this place. 

She refused to dwell on why Kim's words had stung her. It was not like she hadn't told herself the same thing, over and over. It was not like she hadn't pushed Kim harder and harder with each consecutive encounter, further and further away. Shego didn't need friends. She didn't need anyone.

She shoved past a group of trapped shoppers, mostly men. They whined in complaint, but quickly shut up at the sight of the storming woman. They had grown more nervous since the car was driven through the wall, the reality of the situation starting to dawn on them. She hadn't seen many bolt bin employees. They were probably huddled in the break room.

Shego was going to grab that bolt, even if she had to shake it out of that kid, and get back to the lair before Kim managed to…

"Sweetpea? Is that you?"

Shego froze at the sound of that word. With agonizing slowness, she turned to face the direction of the speaker.

There, standing with a shopping basket hooked over his arm and the other hand extended towards a shelf, was Chris Cutter. He wore a pair of black leather pants with a sliver line down the length. A matching leather jacket that was unzipped to reveal a grey t-shirt with the stenciled words "What's Troubling Gus?" along with the silhouette of a polar bear silk-screened onto the chest. He stared at her, as if in surprise, with his shining silver eyes.

"Fancy meeting you here, of all places. I was just… uh" he looked at the box he had just pulled from the shelf, "buying some… bolts… and things."

Shego stood frozen in astonishment. She could not believe that he was actually pretending like this was an accident.

"So, um…" He leaned against the shelf, trying to look conversational. "What're you up to?"

Shego exploded.

* * *

Charlie was left alone in the back. He had heard the green demon woman shouting and then the seven robot men were gone, the double doors swinging in their wake. 

The greasy-haired teenager had a few moments to consider his next move. Should he run? Should he hide? Should he keep looking? What? For all he knew, the robots would come back any second and tear him limb from limb if he didn't have the bolt. And if he ran? Where would he go?

Charlie kicked the pile of boxes in front of him in frustration. He had been sure there was a silver-plated, three-quarter inch, metric machine bolt in the back. They were unusual enough that they never ordered them in bulk. He had been _so_ _sure_.

Then, the whole floor shook vilolently. Charlie gaped as the double doors swung outwards and a cloud of smoke and debris blew through. Something had just blown up in his father's store.

Charlie moaned in anger. He kicked the pile of boxes again and again and then fell to the floor in resignation.

Above him, the tower of cardboard shifted and teetered.

The teen had hardly a moment to scream when the whole pile fell on him with a crash. He pushed and kicked, gasping for air as he came sputtering out of the pile of nuts and bolts. He could not believe he had not been crushed. His whole measly life had flashed before his eyes. He collapsed, half out of the heap of fasteners, and then… focused his eyes on something right in front of him.

A sliver- plated bolt.

* * *

Kim rolled under a swinging punch from one of the Synthos. She knew from experience that they could quickly overpower her if she didn't find an advantage. Regular hits were simply absorbed by the liquid-filled machines. They had no bones to break, and no brains to knock unconscious. And each time she met them in combat, Drakken had managed to improve their fighting skills just a little bit more. They did have one major weakness though. 

"Ah! Bad touch!" Ron shouted as he was lifted into the air by yet another drone.

Kim came out of her roll tossing a handful of what looked like everyday bobby pins. Like slicing knives they cut through the drone's one arm, causing the oily goo inside to leak out. The robot quickly lost the strength of the arm and dropped a squealing Ron to the floor. Kim jumped up and kicked off the one-armed drone, sending it sprawling to the floor. She landed next to her boyfriend as the rest of the Sythos came in.

"You have more of those pins?" Ron sat himself up.

"Not nearly enough." The crouched girl held her arms at the ready.

That's when an explosion rocked the store, knocking over several tall shelves and showering them with rubble. Kim raised a protective arm and saw veritable mushroom cloud billow up to the ceiling from somewhere in the middle of the giant room. Even the Sythos paused to process this new development.

Out of the hazy aisles came fleeing civilians, many of whom carried handfuls of fasteners and other store items under their arms. They all had the look of panic stamped on their faces and funneled through the hole in the wall, not even taking a second look at the purple car parked inside the store or the group of unconscious foot soldiers lying around it. One particular looter slipped and fell with a shout on the slick of grease behind the vehicle, his handfuls of stolen goods scattering about.

"Holy crap." Was all Ron could say.

The drones didn't give them more time to wonder. They quickly turned their attention back on the trapped pair.

* * *

Shego stood in the center of a blackened, smoldering crater. She held her arms tight to her sides and breathed heavily through clenched teeth. To all sides of her, the once highly-organized shelves of the Bolt Bin had been reduced to rubble. 

The focus of her outburst was gone, as she had half-expected he would be. Cutter was nothing if not spry.

It had been a good, long time since she had exploded like that. Not since when she was much younger and much less in control of her power, as well as her swirling emotions. Back before she understood what she was capable of. Before she knew what she had been made for.

She had long since developed a tight reign on the destructive power inside of her. Rarely did it flare up so fiercely. But this was the second time it had done so in the past two days. Why did that bouncing idiot make her snap so readily?

The shifting of rubble brought her back to the world.

Cutter's dark hair was covered in dust. He pushed the collapsed shelving unit off of him with a strained grunt and coughed loudly. His leather jacket was torn along the sleeve.

"Son of a…" He pulled himself up and looked at his arm. "This was my favorite jacket."

"You…" Shego growled. Her gloved hands ignited in green fury. "You meddling… _dork_!" Cutter froze in place and stared at the angry woman apprehensively. "Who are you working for? Tell me NOW!" The power practically leapt from her hands.

Cutter hopped and quick-stepped along the piles of rubble, deftly avoiding her blast. He poised up on top of a thin rail of metal, protruding from the mass like a balance beam.

"I'm not working for anyone!" He shouted back at her, annoyance clear in his voice. "I'm a free agent. Work for the highest bidder, Sweetpea."

Shego snarled at the pet name and came rushing at the crouching man, firing fistfuls of fire at him as she did so. He backflipped along the rail, twisting and rotating free of the onslaught. Along the top of the rubble he scurried, sometimes on all fours, moving with feline liquidness. Shego hopped up and followed him, not slowed down at all by the chaos of twisted sharp metal. When she could, she threw a screaming plasma bolt at the bouncing idiot, only to have it explode to either side of him. Nevertheless, she managed to herd him into a corner where he found himself trapped. She faced him across an aisle of still standing shelves.

"Then who hired you to follow me?" She shrieked at the silver-eyed man. He looked back at her with dread plain on his face.

"I…" he paused as he looked at her. He licked his lips nervously. "I don't know if now it's such a good time to ask you anymore… since you're obviously in a bad mood."

"What?" Shego practically shouted in confusion. "Ask me WHAT?"

Cutter winced and shook his head, almost talking to himself. "No. Definitely a bad idea. Stupid, stupid, stupid." He looked at her in anger. "Why are you _always_ so pissed off?"

Shego screamed and leapt at the man with her fiery green hands. Cutter jumped backwards and landed on the wall, undoubtedly intending to scale it with his bizarre lizard-like ability that Shego had witnessed a dozen times before. This time, however, his booted feet slipped and slid down the wall. She saw him hang by his bare hands and try to scuttle along, but with limited success.

"Friggin' stupid-ass boots!" She heard him curse, before he simply dropped down onto the floor. She had seen him barefoot all those times before and now this verified it for her. He needed his hands and feet exposed in order to climb the sheer walls.

"Looks like you're fancy little pumps aren't so stylin' after all, Champ." She sneered down on him from the top of her shelf.

"Shut up," he growled. "You ever tried riding a motorcycle barefoot?" Cutter quickly tried to pull a boot off while he hopped along on one foot like some sort of comical joke.

Shego almost casually sent a searing blast at the floor in front of him.

"You're going to tell me what I want to know," she smiled icily at the man, "or you won't have a foot left to put in a boot."

* * *

Wade Load had been running in electronic circles for the past few hours. 

He had only been half-concentrating on the events at the bolt bin, having full confidence in his teammates. Reports had filtered through that there had been an explosion a few minutes ago, but a quick glance at his constant system link with the Kimmunicator showed him that the team was ok, if a little preoccupied. If they needed his expertise, Kim would call him and he'd be with them in a microsecond. For now, he needed to gather as much intel as possible for their benefit.

It had been a game of cat and mouse between him and his online opponent. He had been fishing for hits from the algorithm by setting up false info and mirror sites, testing the limits of the A.I. program that was actively deleting any information about the Worldwide Evil Empire, and ultimately, the enigmatic thief that had teamed up with Drakken.

Things were progressing agonizingly slowly, but they _were_ progressing somewhat. Wade was confident that he could unravel the algorithm, not unlike unraveling a knot of string, if given enough time. But time was never a luxury in the world-saving business.

The young boy sighed and leaned back from the one computer screen, only to turn and stare into another. Kim and Ron looked to be in deep, but it would do no good to call them now when they needed concentration. He tapped on his keyboard and did a quick scan through the Kimmunicator's sensors. He grimaced. Kim _hated_ Syntho Drones. He almost felt sorry for them.

Hopping between tasks like a computer himself, Wade spun around and tried to do further analysis of the equipment Drakken had been trying to steal the last couple days. The combination of items could make a myriad of different machines, none of them good. He frowned at the screen. Then, almost on a whim, he did a quick online search for the items in question. Naturally, the Reversal Drive could be found for sale on the Hench Co website. A quick peak into their system inventory made him groan in exasperation. Apparently Hench had gone and sold the item to Drakken, even after he had sent Shego to try and steal it unsuccessfully. Hench was never one to frown on making a buck, no matter the cliental.

There were dozens of hits on Nuclear Capacitor Switches. They were not terribly uncommon for a piece of high-technology. Drakken could have easily gotten several if he needed them besides the one that was stolen from the first research facility, the one that Shego and Chris Cutter had apparently trashed.

Wade then did a scan for the Quantum Matrix Amplifier. The only one in existence had been at the National Engineering Center, which Cutter and Shego had easily taken, by eyewitness accounts.

Then, Wade's eyes narrowed as he scrolled over another hit on his search. Oddly enough, this one was on Ebay.

Quickly scanning through the corresponding webpages, his eyes widened again in shock. There it was, large as life. A photo of the Amplifier up for grabs. Wade couldn't believe it. He looked at the seller, one "scissorkid33". His merchant profile showed a 98 feedback rating. Looking through the list of comments, he saw a lot of the typical "Very Satisfied, Thanks" and "Prompt and Courteous" responses. But what really surprised him were the items that had been bought by these bidders: "Crown Jewel Blue Diamond" and "Super Secret Stealth Jet Blueprints" or "Priceless Monet Painting". In fact, the only item that wasn't a big ticket robbery was a "Slightly Used Motorcycle Helmet" to which the buyer had given scissorkid his only bad review, citing that the helmet had been scratched.

It was painfully obvious to Wade that scissorkid33 was Chris Cutter. Several of the big ticket items where ones from some high-profile robberies that he had already managed to link to the thief before he hit the brick wall that was the WEE. But apparently, the A.I. hadn't caught this one loose thread, not making the connection between Cutter and this stray Ebay profile.

Wade quickly went to see who the highest bidder currently was for the Quantum Matrix Amplifier. His face twisted in confusion upon reading the online handle.

Drbluebad666.

He wasn't surprised by the obviousness of the name. Drakken was nothing if not obvious. What made him scratch his head was the fact that Drakken was _bidding_ on the Amp from Cutter. Kim, Wade and even Ron all thought he had been working _with_ the megalomaniac, despite the fact that WEE _never_ worked with rogue villains. After all, he and Shego had been spotted at all three robberies at the same time and…

Wade smacked his forehead as things suddenly fell into place.

* * *

In a move that was half-cheerleading and half-martial art, Kim Possible landed on the Synthodrone's shoulders and hooked her legs under his arms. Following through with her momentum, she managed to actually flip herself forward and send the robot flying into the wall. She came to rolling stop in time to watch the drone bounce off the surface and land on the floor. Of course, the stupid thing just got back up again. 

Ron faired little better, running in panicked circles around a cash register followed by two other Sythos, one of them with only one arm. The rest of the robots were sparring with her. Back and forth she spun and cart wheeled through them easily, scoring a multitude of hits and jabs. If they had been human, they would have fallen quickly. Instead, they warped and bent with every connection. It felt like fighting one of those inflatable smiling clowns.

Not for the first time, she cursed herself for accidentally leaving her laser lipstick in her purse. She could have made short work of the liquid-filled drones with that in her hand. Instead, she had to look to the environment around her.

She hand sprung over a couple unconscious henchmen, grabbing their energy batons as she did so. Coming up, she whirled the weapons in each hand like a pair of fighting sticks, their glowing energy leaving red trails in their wake.

On the Synthos came, heedless. Kim swung and connected with one in the head in a shower of light. Its entire neck snapped over into a sickening angle with the force of the blow. She struck another in the leg, causing it to practically spin to the floor. The batons were not sharp enough to break the reinforced skin, but they packed a heck of a punch.

Surrounded by reaching robots the cheerleader stood alone, feet spread wide. Her hands moved in a spinning blur of red, highlighted by the occasional burst of light as she connected again and again. Drones went flying and whirling to the floor only to pull themselves back up, usually with limbs bent at bizarre and unnatural looking angles.

Kim pressed on. Sweat started to bead on her forehead. The robots couldn't break through her defense, but she wasn't taking them down. And she couldn't keep this up forever.

She needed something sharp.

* * *

Ron threw a shopping basket at the approaching drone. Naturally, it bounced off of him harmlessly. 

"Man!" He moaned, and dug through the register desk, trying to find some sort of weapon. His hand closed on a standard office stapler, probably used to staple customer receipts.

"Ahh!" He shouted as he wielded the tool like a pair of nunchucks. Rotating it around him in a dizzying display. The pair of robots didn't flinch and continued their advance.

"Hai yah!" The blonde teen leapt at the nearest foe, smacking him directly in the forehead. The faceless robot actually stopped. A tiny indent was visible where the staple had been imbedded. As Ron watched, a tiny dribble of sytho-goo leaked out of the hole.

The robot continued his approach.

"Er.. nice synthetic soldier." Ron dropped the stapler and backed into the register. "We're cool, right?" The drone reached for him. "Ahh! Kim! Help!" Ron turned to look for the unmistakable sight of her red hair. Instead, what Ron saw was a large cluster of Sythodrones around an unseen opponent, slowly pressing in.

"Kim!" Ron shouted in alarm. An iron grip on his shoulder. "Let go!" He snarled, punching the robot ineffectively. Desperately, he clawed at the desk. His hand grabbed onto something wedged in beside the register. Ron looked at his hand.

A pair of scissors.

With a vicious cry, he stabbed at the robot's arm, tearing a gaping hole through which poured the greasy liquid. The arm quickly deflated like a balloon. Ron kicked off the drone's chest and managed to flip over the register. He ran towards the compacting cluster of drones screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Kim! Kim! I'm coming!" The young man sprung onto the back of the first Syntho he saw, stabbing the scissors into its neck. The goo spurted up into the air like something out of a horror movie. The robot lurched and sent Ron falling to the floor. He scrambled out of the way as the seizure-induced drone nearly dropped on top of him. He looked back into the fighting mass.

Ron still couldn't see any red hair.

"Kim!" He cried out. "Kim!"

Then, he heard a shout from within.

"Ron!"

The teen snapped to his feet, intending to rush headlong into the throng. But he was stopped as two Synthodrones went flying over his head. He saw flashes of red light as more drones were sent tumbling away from the cluster. Then out of the chaos leapt a messy-haired Kim Possible, bashing foes to either side of her as she rolled free and causing a stumbling mess in the Syntho's ranks.

Ron rushed up to meet her and they collided in a clinging embrace.

"Are you ok?" They asked in tandem. Kim looked wide eyed and concerned.

"I heard you shout. I thought you were in trouble." She looked over Ron frantically as if expecting him to be missing a limb.

"Me?" Ron almost laughed. "_You_ were the one in the middle of _that_." He nodded at the tangled mess of Syntho Drones, even then starting to reorganize themselves. He brushed a stray lock of red hair out of her beautiful eyes. "I was so worried, that I..."

Kim pulled his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. Ron felt her tongue meet his, tentatively, over their teeth. He felt weak in the knees and nearly dropped right there onto the cold concrete floor. But he held her so tightly that he couldn't have fallen. And then the kiss broke, like a wave on a rocky coast.

"Maybe now is not the best time for that." Ron gasped. He saw an unfocused look in her eyes as she also struggled for breath.

"Maybe you're right." Kim shook her head, seeming to struggle to concentrate. The focus returned to her eyes. They pulled out of the embrace awkwardly and faced the mounting threat.

"Oh," Ron smiled at his girlfriend, "I got you something." The cheerleader looked perplexed until she saw the pair of scissors being offered to her. She smiled deviously and dropped one of the batons.

"Aw, Ron," she took the sharp implement in her free hand, "you buy me the nicest things."

"Just don't, you know… _run_ with them or anything." She gave him a sultry grin that heated his cheeks.

The first of several freed robotic warriors came at the pair. Almost playfully, Kim slashed out with the one hand to make a vicious cut along the drone's thigh, making him tilt over sideways as the leg lost its fluid.

"You heard the joke about the one-legged man at the ass-kicking contest?" The taunting cheerleader smashed the robot over with the baton.

* * *

Charlie came slinking out of the swinging doors and whimpered at the sight before him. 

Half the store was demolished from what appeared to have been some sort of cataclysmic detonation in the middle of the building. Not to mention the twin holes that had been blown into the ceiling. Smoke and dust floated through the air, giving the place the appearance of something out of a post-apocalyptic landscape. From across the room, he could hear the sounds of fighting near the store's entrance. He cowered as sudden flashes of green light bloomed far to his right followed by the shudder of even more explosions. The place was a war zone.

Charlie had tried to sneak out the loading bay entrance, but had found it guarded by more men in red jumpsuits. They hadn't seemed too concerned about the pandemonium reigning inside, but had been quick to kick him back inside the door. "Under orders" they had said. There was no other way out, except the front or the fire escape. Both of which were only accessible through the main store.

With the sliver bolt secure in his vest pocket, Charlie scurried along the wall towards the emergency exit. Chances are it was guarded too, but Charlie would rather try his luck there then at the main entrance. Once outside, he could call the national guard or something. Then his mom. He would let her break the news to his father.

Moving as quietly as he could and as quickly as he dared, the teen ducked into on of the many aisles. Customers often became lost if they didn't pay attention to where they were going in the Bolt Bin, and many times over the years he had come across a worry-eyed patron he had to escort back to the cashiers. But he had wandered the maze-like store since he was a child and knew instinctively where he was going.

Charlie rounded a corner and was struck frozen by what he saw.

Up high on a shelf stood the green woman staring down on a dark-dressed man on the concrete floor. Dancing green flames engulfed her hands casting her sinuous body and flowing black hair in an otherworldly light. Her stance was relaxed, looking as one might look upon a bug they were about to step on. Charlie had thought she had looked stunning before… but now she looked like a goddess. A terrible, terrible goddess.

"Well?" The goddess sounded displeased. "Who was it?"

The dark man was struggling with his boots, seemingly trying to kick them off. Why, Charlie couldn't begin to fathom.

"Who was what?" The dark haired man didn't speak with the respect due to a goddess.

"The one who hired you?" She shouted. Charlie cowered as the glowing fire around her hands grew larger.

"Dammnit, woman!" The man pulled off one boot and tossed it at the shelf in front of him angrily. "No one _hired_ me!"

"Bullshit!" She spat. "I know you were in the lair! You stole the list! You've been at every freakin' robbery I've done for the past two days! Someone has got you shadowing me! Who is it?!"

"Arrgh!" The man grabbed at his face in frustration. "Would you listen to me for one damned minute?! You… you frigging _psycho_!"

The goddess screamed and roaring green fire erupted from her hands.

Charlie screamed too and ducked behind the corner. He took off running down the corridor away from this hell on earth.

* * *

Kim would never admit the pleasure she took as she slashed the Syntho's throat, or at least what would have been a throat if it had been a real person. A little less then a year ago, she had her emotions toyed with by one of Drakken's Synthodrones. It had been built and programmed to pose as the perfect boy and sent into her school to distract her. And, like an idiot, she fell for the disguised robot. Its name had been Eric. 

To Kim, every Synthodrone was an Eric.

She rode the melting robot to the floor. Standing over its corpse, she squared off against the remaining nine drones. Her baton had run out of juice a couple bodies ago. All she held in her hand was the scissors, dripping with synthogel. It was all she needed.

Then, her wrist beeped insistently at her.

"Ron." She tossed the scissors underhanded to the young man, standing out of the way a few feet to her left. "Hold them off for a sec. I better take this."

"Wha…?" The blonde teen juggled the scissors clumsily, trying to avoid the sharp end. He faced the drones, which had learned enough to avoid the pointed instrument. They grouped together, almost cautiously. Ron snipped the scissors at them dramatically. "Yeah! That's right! Who wants it?" Kim had to bite her tongue to keep from giggling at the cute display. What the heck was wrong with her?

She lifted her wrist Kimmunicator and answered the call.

"Go Wade."

"Kim!" The dark face was wide-eyed. "I got it! It makes sense now!"

"So not the clue, Wade." She frowned at the younger boy. "Try making it make sense to me."

"They're _not_ working together!" He smiled at that. "This Cutter guy's been stealing from Drakken even while he's been stealing from everyone else. He hasn't been helping Shego… he's been competing with her!"

Kim's eyebrows furrowed. "How can you be sure of that?"

"Because, Drakken doesn't have the Quantum Matrix Amplifier! Cutter does! And he's selling it online to the highest bidder, whether or not it's Drakken."

Kim frowned thoughtfully. "But he and Shego were _both_ at the National Physics Center, and at the Hench Co plant, they…" her eyes widened "…they were _fighting_ when we got there!"

"Exactly!" Wade snapped his fingers in triumph. "Two different thieves sent after the same thing! WEE _isn't_ working with Drakken!"

"But why?" The cheerleader scratched her head. "Why would the Empire send Cutter to compete with Shego?" Behind her, she heard Ron yelp as the Synthos pushed forward warily.

"Don't know," Wade admitted, "but it can't be good. I'm going to keep trying to dig up info on them. I think I've got a lead that I'm working on."

"K, thanks Wade. Keep us posted." She turned back towards the retreating Ron.

"Oh, and Kim?" Her wrist rose again. "Just so you know… Drakken _did_ manage to buy the Amplifier online before I could pull the plug. He'll probably be in possession of it soon."

"Great…" she sighed. "Thanks, Wade."

The boy shrugged and the tiny screen went black, just as another explosion bloomed from further in the store. Kim instantly realized that the two thieves were fighting between themselves even then, like they had been at HenchCo and undoubtedly at the R&D facility before that. She winced as she remembered the huge amount of destruction that had resulted from those little quarrels. Her arm reached for the backpedaling Ron

"Whaa! Kim!" He screeched as he was pulled into the aisles, the Synthos slow to take up pursuit.

They had to get over there before those two brought the whole store down around them and the people still inside.

* * *

Cutter rolled away as nuts and bolts showered down upon him. Once again, it had all gone down the toilet. His favorite jacket was ruined, his expensive boot was lost, and his entire strategy had gone up in green flames. There were no more plans now. All he knew was that he had to get the hell out of here; that was the only certainty left for the silver-eyed man. 

The fire roared overhead and he dived between the shelves to come smashing through the other side. From there, he took a frustrating moment to pull off his remaining biker boot with an angry grunt. He stood and threw the damned thing back over the top of the aisle, hoping that it hit the stupid woman in the head. Then he shot down the corridor on his bare feet.

He heard the sound of explosions behind him as the infuriating woman came crashing through the hallway in pursuit. He cursed loudly.

Carrying his momentum into a leap, he bounced off the shelves to his left and reached out to grab the edge of the metal structure to his right. His entire body swung perpendicular around the corner of the aisle and released into a rotating flight that sent him straight onto the wall. However, instead of careening into the surface and falling to the floor, clawed hands and feet shot out to grip onto the plaster and he veritably loped along the vertical face. He passed two more aisle entrances before jumping out from the wall to spin and hop off one shelf and then the opposite before landing in a bipedal sprint down the corridor.

As he came to an aisle intersection, he awkwardly pulled the leather jacket off his shoulders, grumbling obscenities as he did so, and tossed it sideways down one alley before dodging down another. Several more times he weaved through the maze-like hardware store, randomly selecting his directions, until he was practically lost himself. Turning a final corner, he came to a sudden halt. He cocked his head to the side. He listened.

Cutter heard a great many things but he focused on the sound of running footsteps, punctuated by the odd swear from a female voice. He could hear the distinctive thrum of glowing green plasma, rising and falling as she stormed down the corridor a couple aisles over. He held his breath.

The footsteps receded behind him. He waited a few more moments before releasing the air in a deflating sigh that dropped him to the ground. He propped himself up against the shelf and swung his head back to smack against the metal structure with a resigned "_bong_". He closed his eyes.

This was, without a doubt, the single most stupid thing that Cutter had ever done. He mentally kicked himself for being such an idiot. He couldn't have possibly screwed this whole situation up any more. It was turning into a repeat of last night. Why didn't he learn his lesson then?

"Stupid, stupid, stupid…" he knocked his dark head against the shelf before dropping it forward to look at his bare feet. As he did so, he flexed certain muscles to make small retractable claws push their way out from under the surface of his tip toes. Just as quickly, they disappeared back under his skin and his feet looked human again. Cutter sighed a second time.

He had been a fool, but no more. It was time for him to leave. It was time for him to retreat. Sitting there, contemplating the reality of his situation, Cutter decided it was time for him to give up.

Cutter was about to pull himself to his feet when he suddenly became aware of another presence. He froze and listened to the mumbling of another person in the aisle next to his.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb…" the words echoed Cutter's own. "Should have just said no, no we don't have any in stock. You knew she was bad news. From the beginning you knew." He turned his head and tried to peer between the over-stocked shelves. He saw the back of a greasy sandy-brown head, shaking back and forth as it spoke.

"Psst. Hey, bud." Cutter spoke. The head froze in mid-shake. "Over here, behind you. Through the shelf." The head rotated around, and a pair of wide blue-grey eyes looked back at him.

"Who are you?" The young male voice murmured nervously.

"Just some guy." Cutter answered with a smirk. "Trapped in this hell hole, just like you I imagine."

The eyes seemed to relax slightly. "Oh God…" he groaned. "It's all freakin' crazy, man. It was just a regular Saturday morning. Easy going until it all went to shit."

"You work here?"

"Phff.." The eyes rolled. "Not for much longer I figure."

Cutter snickered. "Yeah, I hear ya." He raised his eyebrow. "Where you just talking about a girl a second ago?"

The eyes seemed to suppress a shudder. "If you could call her that. I'm starting to think that she is the devil."

Cutter snorted again. "I know exactly what you're saying, my man."

"Thing is… she's, like, the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. More gorgeous then any of the girls in the magazines, you know? She's just so… I dunno. _Striking_ I guess is the word."

Cutter laughed out loud. "I know a girl just like that. Striking is _exactly_ the word."

The eyes seemed to smile and then narrowed in confusion. "Hey, you got weird eyes."

"Contact lenses," Cutter responded without hesitation. "Into that kinda thing, you know?"

"That's cool." He shifted position. "I wanted to get a nose ring, but my dad wouldn't let me. Says that it isn't the kind of thing a store manager would wear."

"Store manager?" Cutter raised both eyebrows. "Of _this_ store?"

"Well… _assistant_ manager, but yeah. My dad is the owner. Though I think this might be the end of that. I'll be lucky if I can leave my room to take a pee after he finds out it all got trashed."

Cutter smiled. This kid was pretty funny. He felt more then a little guilty about the store, since half of it had been blown up because of his presence. One more reason for him to leave and never come back.

"It's not your fault, dude. I'm sure you're dad will understand that you couldn't have stopped it. It's not like you're a superhero or something."

"A superhero?" The eyes crinkled in thought.

"Yeah, when a supervillainess attacks your hardware store, it really isn't your responsibility."

"Supervillainess?" He repeated. The eyes seemed to focus on something far away. His head turned slightly.

"Uh huh." Cutter smiled. "So don't sweat it, bud. Just stay out of the crossfire and…"

"Oh God." The eyes bulged.

"What?" Cutter frowned. "What is it?"

"It's her!" The voice practically cracked in panic. "She's here! She's going to… oh God!" The eyes disappeared.

"Kid? _Kid_!" Cutter called out.

They reappeared just as suddenly and locked onto his. "You need to take this and keep it away from her. She _wants_ it. She said she'd kill me for it!" A hand shoved its way between the shelves. Cutter's head snapped back reflexively. A medium-sized silver bolt dropped onto the floor in front of him. "Go on! Take the fastener and _run_!"

Cutter reached down and picked up the shiny bolt in confusion. He heard a commotion through the shelf and the sound of running footsteps as the kid took off down the corridor. The dark haired man raised his silver eyes to peer through the opening where his companion had just been.

Two glowing emerald irises stared back at him between long dark eyelashes.

"You…" hissed a voice that was both smooth as silk and cold as a glacier. Shapely eyebrows furrowed deep into her face, narrowing her eyes into vicious slits.

"Aw, hell…" Cutter moaned as a blinding green light began to bleed through the gaps in the partition.

* * *

Kim and Ron raced through the maze towards where they thought Shego and Cutter were battling. Ron had to admit, he had been surprised with the revelation that the two thieves had been enemies all along. It sorta made sense, he guessed. The first time he met Cutter, the man had been on the receiving end of a very angry Shego. He and Kim had even gone as far as trying to save him from the green woman, much to Ron's embarrassment when the dark man turned on them. 

The blonde teen looked up, where five Synthodrones silently kept pace on top of the shelves. He knew the other four were not far behind.

Kim probably could have dispatched all nine of them quickly. But Ron had accidentally dropped the scissors when she had grabbed and pulled him along with her. Once again, they were weaponless and it was all his fault.

At least the drones themselves had been content to only follow for the moment. But once Team Possible stopped moving, they would undoubtedly be surrounded.

Not for the first time, Ron wished he had Rufus with him. It was in these seemingly hopeless situations that the tiny rodent would really step up to save the day. Somehow, Rufus always seemed to balance out Ron's bumbling antics. But not this time. Ron was alone on this one.

He looked at the bouncing red hair in front of him. No… not alone. Never alone when Kim was there. His friend, his partner, his… lover?

Ron almost stumbled at that thought. _Girlfriend_. Kim was his _girlfriend_. They went on dates, they held hands, they kissed but they didn't… well. No, they didn't _do_ anything. That would be weird. With his best friend since forever? Major weird.

But the teenaged boy found himself thinking about those things more and more. And after this morning, after the picnic, things felt… different. There was this strange feeling in his gut that wasn't there before. Exciting and terrifying. And every time Kim got near him, it got worse.

"Left, Ron!" The red haired cheerleader dodged into another intersection. She held her Kimmunicator in front of her, following a store map that Wade had provided with them. Ron, his train of thought derailed, lurched after her.

Smoking ruin greeted them. Parts of the corridor had holes blasted clean through them, their contents reduced to melted slag. Kim hardly paused before leaping through a man-sized hole to the next aisle over.

"Looks like we're going the right way." She said sardonically.

They ran through a series of twists and turns. Ron felt his head spinning. Kim moved with confidence, one eye on the map. He hoped they would be able to find their way out again.

Another turn and the pair nearly crashed into a running boy in a green vest. Ron yelped almost as loudly as he did.

"Help me!" The pimple-faced teen clawed at Kim. "She's a demon! A _demon_ I tells you!"

"Let me guess." Kim practically sighed. "A green-skinned woman?"

The teen blinked at her.

"Don't worry, my man!" Ron tried to reassure the frazzled young male. "This is _Kim__Possible_! She's here to save the day, and look _totally_ hot while doing it."

"Ron!" Kim actually blushed. "So not the time, remember?" Though she smiled bashfully while she reproved him. Ron's own cheeks heated. Why had he said that?

The sandy-haired teen looked at both of them in confusion, but seemed to calm a little at the mention of the name. "_Kim_ _Possible_? Here? Oh thank God! I thought I'd never escape the…"

The Synthodrones chose that moment to drop down in front of them.

The greasy-haired boy's reaction was practically instantaneous. He screamed like a twelve-year-old girl and sprinted down the hall in the opposite direction. Kim and Ron watched him and then looked at each other with a mutual sigh. They dodged down a different route, following the trail of plasma burns.

The Synthos silently took up the chase.

* * *

Drakken hopped and skipped in between moments of actual constructive work. The Reverse Engineering Ray was coming together nicely. A little adjustment here, a little solder there. He hummed the tune to _The Girl From Ipanema_ as welding sparks flew from the machine. 

"Yes!" He stood back and tore the welding goggles from his head, leaving white raccoon-eyes on his dirty face. "It is almost ready! Now all I need is to place the final two pieces: the Quantum Matrix Amplifier and the adjustment bolt! Then _all_ will bow before me!" He threw back his pony-tailed head and laughed into the cavernous room.

A steady pulsing tone made him cut his laughter short and he spun to look at the giant computer screen in confusion. He had left the web browser open while he counted down the minutes as the online auction closed, securing his ownership of the Amplifier. A small window was blinking incessantly in the corner.

Drakken approached the supercomputer tentatively. More times then not, he would mix up controls and commands and cause something bad to happen. And not bad in a good way. The mad scientist cursed himself for being so computer illiterate. It was embarrassing, especially for an evil genius. He hoped that this little blinking window didn't mean that he was getting more junk mail. Because that would just suck.

Drakken opened the window, and to his surprise the Synthodrone uplink filled the giant screen. He had almost forgotten about it in his work. He peered at the live status of his robotic warriors. His eyes almost instantly widened and his jaw dropped in shock.

"What?!" He shrieked. All but nine of the twenty Synthos he had sent with Shego had been destroyed. And the remaining nine were in pursuit of…

"KIM POSSIBLE!" He brought his fists crashing down on the computer console. "You ALWAYS wreck my stuff! Aaargh!" He tore at his black hair in fury. "You think you're all _that_, Possible! But you'll soon find that my improved Synthodrones are _more_!" And with that, Drakken executed a hidden command that sent a special signal to all five of the remaining drones. It was a little experimental upgrade that he had installed into this latest batch of synthogel. True, he hadn't _really_ had a chance to test it. But what better way then against the terrible teen herself!

"Let's see you deal with my _Berserker Drones_, Kim Possible!" He spat at the screen as the live uplink temporarily shut down each drone in order to reboot their systems with the upgrade. Their bodies would metamorphose as the gel went through a complex chemical reaction. Soon they would become walking juggernauts with a simple, but effective, search and destroy protocol. Their lifespan would be greatly decreased and their higher cognitive functions would shut down, but for that short period they would be practically unstoppable.

As Drakken turned back to his doomsday ray, chuckling deviously at his own evil genius, he did not see the live uplink sever as the drones went offline. Nor did he realize that the Synthodrones, once operating free from the master computer, would run their simple seek-and-destroy protocol autonomously, without external command.

They would, quite literally, be running out of control.

* * *

Cutter went crashing into the shelf only to drop to the floor in a shower of lag bolts. Shego stepped through the hole she had just made, one hand leaping with power. She snarled at the dark man, who stayed seated on the floor, a painful expression on his face. She had him now. 

"I'm going to ask you one last time." She reached down and gripped Cutter by his grey shirt, pulling him forward so that they were face to face. She held her one glowing hand above her. "And then I am going to turn you into Cajun cuisine. Why were you hired to follow me?"

Cutter raised his silver eyes and met her own. The look he gave her made her blink. It wasn't angry or arrogant or even scared. It was… defeated. He looked like a man who had just lost a fortune in a bad hand of poker.

"I give up, sweetpea." He said deadpan. "I'm done." He held his hands out to his sides. "You've beat me. Whoop-dee-doo. I don't want to do this anymore. You win. I lose."

Shego worked her jaw for a moment. She hardly registered the annoying pet name. What was his game? She pulled at his shirt again, and snarled even more menacingly. "Answer my question: Why were you hired…"

"I told you." Cutter sighed and slumped even lower. "I wasn't hired by anyone."

"Then why?" Shego hissed. "Why did you follow me? Why did you steal my marks one minute and then help me the next? Why?" She reached down and heatedly pulled a small object out of her ankle pouch. She raised it in front of his face and practically spat. "Why did you take this?"

Something sparked in Cutter's eyes as he looked at the object in her hand. Smooth and round, like a polished metal stone. It shined and reflected the light, almost like his strange irises. He looked back to her, a mixture of surprise and confusion.

"You… kept it?" He spoke softly.

Shego was suddenly confused. The way he looked at her. It made her feel strange. He almost looked… hopeful? She felt her grip on his shirt soften. What was this bouncing idiot thinking? She opened her mouth, not knowing exactly what she was going to say.

"Show's over Shego!" A familiar voice shattered the moment. She turned to see the princess squaring off, her idiot boyfriend right behind her. He was watching the seated Cutter with disdain. "Drakken's plan is done with. Whatever it is."

The green woman groaned. She had practically forgotten her mission. That Charlie kid had been looking for the silver bolt and instead of chasing him down she had been too busy pounding on this meathead. Yeah, real professional. Now she had to deal with Kimmie before getting things back on track. What a freaking mess.

"I don't even know where to begin, Pumpkin." She responded honestly. "Do I take the time to kick your ass or do I go find that stupid bolt for Drakken. Decisions, decisions."

"Bolt?" Kim narrowed her eyes. Shego groaned again. Of course the teen didn't know about it. And now she had gone and told her. She was really off her game at the moment.

"Oh…" Cutter suddenly piped up. All heads swerved to look at him, still gripped in Shego's fist. "You mean, like, this bolt?" He lifted a hand that held a large silver machine bolt. Shego stared at it with her mouth open. "That kid said you wanted it. I wasn't sure if he was just a little nuts. He was talking about…"

"You…" Shego hissed, her face slowly twisting into a mask of fury. "You lying piece of… you were here to steal my mark all along!"

"What?" Cutter's eyes widened. "No no no! The kid! He gave it to…"

"A bolt?" Kim shook her head in amazement. "You mean to tell me that Drakken sent the mini army to steal one stupid bolt?"

"Well," Ron shrugged, "it _is_ a nut and bolt store. I guess if he needed one, this is where he'd find it."

"I can't believe I fell for your idiot act!" Shego screamed at the man in front of her. "You've been playing me since the beginning!"

"No!" Cutter exclaimed. "That's not what I…"

"I'm going to tear those silver eyes right out of their sockets!" She raised her fist into the air, the metal lump still gripped in her gloved fingers.

"Wait!" Cutter offered her the fastener in his hand. "Take it! I don't care about it! Just take the damn…"

"I don't think so." Kim raised her fists. "_We'll_ be taking the bolt, thank you."

"You stay out of this, princess!" Shego snarled. "This is between me and the idiot!"

"Alright, guys. Time out." Ron raised his open hands in a T. "Why don't we all settle this like mature, responsible…"

It was right about then that the aisle exploded from all sides.

* * *

Ron dived down to the floor with Kim as thousands of nuts, bolts and washers of different sizes peppered the air. Pieces of shelving unit spun over them, hitting the floor with a clang. He reached out for the woman next to him, his only thought being to protect her as the impacts of tiny pieces of machined metal rained down everywhere. It sounded like he was inside a metal box during a hail storm. 

And, just as suddenly, it all stopped. Ron lifted his head. He saw Kim rising to a crouch, always prepared for the worst. He breathed a little easier when he saw that she looked unhurt. The next place he looked was over where Shego and Cutter had been. They too were prone on the floor and quickly rising. Cutter stayed on four limbs and looked ready to pounce, his head quickly turning about. Shego's own movements seemed to mirror Kim's. Seeing that the other three were looking out, he followed their stares.

On all sides, standing silently as if they had always been there, were the nine Synthodrones. Giant gaping holes had been torn through the towering shelves as if they had been toilet paper.

But, something was different. The drones didn't look the same as when he and Kim had left them behind in the maze of corridors. They looked… bigger. As if something inside them had swelled and mutated, bulging outwards all around their synthetic bodies. Their stances were no longer the straight-backed soldier at attention. Now they looked hunched and hulking. Their glowing white orbs had receded into their metamorphosed heads, becoming narrow pinpricks of bright light. Ron felt their malevolent gaze like a change in air pressure.

"What the hell?" Shego growled. "What has that blue moron done now?"

"Shego…" Kim sounded only the slightest bit concerned. "What's wrong with the Synthos?"

"This is new to me, pumpkin." The green woman faced the nearest drone. "Synthodrone! Stand down!"

In response, all nine robots took a threatening step forward.

"Hey!" Shego yelped. "Uh… stand down, please?"

Another step forward.

"Great." Cutter growled, still crouched on all fours. "Rampaging robots. Where have we seen this before, sweatpea?"

"Phff." Shego rolled her eyes. "Same crap, different pile. I know how to deal with these gel-bags." And with that, she leapt forward to take a vicious swipe at the drone in front of her. Her clawed hands slashing deep gouges in the synthoskin. "See… they just deflate like…" She froze in confusion.

No synthogel leaked out of the cuts. Instead, Ron could see how the greenish liquid had solidified into a jello-like consistency. The drone didn't even flinch.

Another step forward.

"You were saying, Shego?" Kim backed away from the closing robots. Ron followed her lead.

"Uh, KP." Ron finally managed. "Maybe we should call Wade."

Another step forward.

* * *

_Oh my! What will our brave heros (and non-heros) do to get out of THIS sitch? Hell if I know! I know I said this would be the final chapter of the first arc, but I lied like a… liar, of some sort. One more after this, methinks. Stay tuned._


	6. Part Six: Synthetic Sitches

Release Notes:

Lies, lies, lies. Nothing but lies I give you. There will be ONE MORE chapter after this one, and I mean it this time. Once I start writing, I just can't frigging stop.

I just had too much fun writing this one, and a lot more happened then I originally intended, which is fine by me. I'd hate to rush through this part, since a lot of inter-connected character development is happening. It'll all come to head in the finale, rest assured. Hopefully it will all fit together satisfactory (at least to me).

Enjoy this part. The action starts and doesn't really stop till the end. OR DOES IT? Read and find out!

You know, in case you give two craps. I know I don't.

The Author.

-

* * *

**Part 6: Synthetic Sitches**

The command line blinked steadily, waiting. It was neither impatient nor insistent. It was simply there, as it always had been, trapped in a dark rectangle. Time meant nothing to the flashing cursor. Milliseconds or millennium, it made no difference to the program. But to Wade Load, milliseconds made all the difference in the world.

He watched the blinking pixel, focused like a spear fisher. His fingers were poised over one of several ergonomic keyboards laid out before him. They held firm, controlled by a mind as sharp as razor. A mind that was developed beyond the mere handful of years that showed on his young freckled face. The mind of a genius.

The cursor kept blinking.

Patience was something Wade had acquired very early in life. Where as most children ran from task to task with an attention deficit, Wade had learned quickly that computers required infinite patience. They could only ever do what they were told to do. Other people became frustrated and angry at computers, blaming them when things failed or didn't work like they were intended to. But Wade understood that it was not the computer's fault. It was the person for not having the patience. The patience that one would give to a toddler. And computers were not half a smart as a toddler.

The cursor kept blinking.

There were a myriad of potential distractions around the young man. He was surrounded by a sprawling collection of high-tech equipment and flickering computer monitors. Normally he would multitask a dozen different machines, jumping between applications much like a computer himself. But at this moment, he needed to be focused. He would have a window of mere seconds to act when the algorithm took the bait, manually tracking it by coding on the fly. He couldn't trust the task to a pre-authored program, as the A.I. had proven too clever. There were too many variables to account for. He had to do it himself.

There was no telling exactly when the hit would come. His mirror sites had all been attacked within ten minutes of posting. He was confident this latest one would be no exception. He needed to be ready.

Then he heard a familiar chime.

Wade clicked his tongue in annoyance and, without looking, reached over to tap a single key command on another keyboard. He kept his eyes locked on the blinking cursor even as he spoke aloud.

"Yo, Kim. What's up?"

"Wade, we're in a major sitch here. We need a solution." Came the quick reply over his computer speakers.

"Wha'do you got?" His eyes didn't flicker from the cursor.

"It's the Synthos, something's gone major with them. I don't know what." Her normally confident voice carried a hint of concern.

Wade had a torn moment. He had been hunting the online algorithm for hours now, working up to this one moment of attack. If he missed his window, he would have to start over. It could happen any second now. The hunt had started as just another info-grab for the young man, trying to gather intel to help Team Impossible pin down the motivations of the enigmatic thief Chris Cutter and the Worldwide Evil Empire that was apparently keeping them hidden. But as the game of cat and mouse progressed, it had grown into a personal challenge for the child genius between himself and the hidden cyber ghost that was working on behalf of the Empire. He was caught between the battle of wits and the needs of his friends and teammates.

The moment lasted less then a second.

"I'm on it." The young man quickly swiveled his chair to face the screen devoted to monitoring the mobile Kimunicator and it's multitude of sensors. Looking back at him through an open window was the frowning face of a young redhead. "I'll need a close scan of one of the Synthodrones to work from."

"Gotcha." The young woman nodded. "Give me a second." The screen when blank as she went to work.

Wade took the moment to look back to the dark monitor. Several lines of numbers, symbols and command text now sat glowing within the black void. Once again, the blinking cursor sat unmoving, having long since finished printing the data.

Wade sighed audibly. He had missed his window. But the young man shook away the momentary disappointment and turned back to the task at hand. His friends needed him.

-

* * *

In the sky above the massive warehouse that was the Bolt Bin, the world's largest nut and bolt specialty store, a dark plume rose from twin holes that had been blasted through the roof. Explosions had been heard rocking the store since late morning and local authorities had been notified by witnesses. A fire truck was on its way to battle the unknown blaze. 

Inside the building, however, there was no raging fire to battle. The smoke rose from a darkened crater in the center of the giant store, where something had exploded not long ago. Though the powerful force had reduced much of the stockpile to smoldering ruin, there was not enough wood or paper in the area to cause much of an inferno beyond the smokescreen. Much of the metal, on the other hand, had been melted and twisted into slag.

Despite this great hole, most of the towering shelves still stood creating a veritable maze of interconnecting corridors and aisles along which metal fasteners of all shapes and sizes could be found. And somewhere inside this modern-day labyrinth, trouble continued to brew. While there was no fire to battle, there were other things just as dangerous.

Kim Possible, teen superhero and freelance secret agent, lowered her wrist, and the purple Kimmunicator that was strapped to it, as the dark face of Wade Load disappeared from its tiny screen. She took a cautious step backwards. On all sides, hulking humanoid creatures closed upon her and the three others who were also trapped. Her shoulder brushed against her boyfriend and partner, Ron Stoppable, and for the first time since this morning, she didn't feel giddy at the physical contact.

"I'm going to _kill_ that idiot when I get back to the lair." Came the angry snarl from the black and green-clad woman behind her, also retreating from the surrounding synthetic soldiers. "Upgrading the Synthos without even letting me know. How am I supposed to do my job if he doesn't tell me everything?"

"Why do I get the feeling you wouldn't listen even if he did?" Mumbled the creeping Chris Cutter, staying low on all fours as he too backed into the encircled group.

"Shut up, you dweeb." Shego snapped back at the silver-eyed man.

"How about _both_ of you shut up?" Ron uncharacteristically barked and the bickering thieves. "Give Kim a chance to explain her plan." He looked at her. "You, uh… _do_ have a plan, right?"

"Umm…" Came the hesitant reply. Kim's mind was racing. She _did_ have a plan. In fact, she had several. But the most likely one to succeed was the one she least wanted to use.

"Right…" Shego snorted. "No offence, pumpkin, but I got my own way out of this. Later." And with that, the woman's gloved hands burst into glowing green energy that she hurled forth like twin balls of fire. Two of the nine mutated Synthodrones were hit with the onslaught, knocking them backwards through the destroyed shelves. As if that was their cue, the rest of the robots lurched forward.

Ron squeaked and went down under the grasping hulks. Kim went up, leaping right over the nearest drone and kicking off its bulging shoulders. The brute didn't even flinch. Ron scrambled between the robot's legs, the less-than-intelligent constructs bumping into each other as they reached for the fleeing boy.

As Kim dropped, she saw that Shego was blasting more of the drones with her green plasma. Having been on the receiving end of that power she did not envy the mindless things one bit. She immediately noticed that Cutter was gone from the crouched position he had been in. A quick glance upward revealed him to be balanced on top of one of the tall shelves. How the heck had he gotten up there so quickly? Not that it mattered, for a Syntho was gripping onto the metal structure and shaking it powerfully. The black haired man seemed to be concentrating fully on not falling off.

Kim immediately stopped paying them heed. She had her own issues to deal with. Namely, get a good scan of this new super-syntho of Drakken's for Wade to analyze. They had been a handful before, but now they seemed much more dangerous. Bigger, stronger, impervious to the usual puncture and bleed method of defeating them and apparently completely psychotic.

She was about to raise the wristband Kimmunicator to attempt a scan when the Syntho spun around with unexpected speed and brought its large fist down on her. Kim was much faster of course and easily dodged the powerful strike, which smashed right into the concrete floor with an explosion of dust and debris. Stronger. Much stronger. Plan A, B and C were immediately discarded.

A series of acrobatic maneuvers put some quick distance between herself and the robot. She landed gracefully in a crouch facing the offending construct. To her left she saw Ron writhing among the three chaotic drones who were trying to grab him. He was safe for a few moments, but she would need to rescue him soon enough.

Wrenching its fist out of the ground, the Syntho in front of her came forward. Kim reflexively reached for her missing utility belt. Unfortunately, she did not have her usual assortment of gear, since they had raced straight to the Bolt Bin from the picnic in the park. She mentally smacked herself for being so hot-headed. Normally, she wasn't so easily set off.

The drone swiped at her, a blow that would probably break bones. But Kim Possible ducked and weaved in almost ballet-like moves. She could not afford to let these things hit her and she knew that any blows she landed would be a waste of time. She needed to find a weakness, and only Wade could do that with a scan of the Syntho to work from.

Kim rolled sideways under another powerful jab and set upon Plan D.

-

* * *

Chris Cutter was not a happy camper. 

His powerful fingers gripped so hard onto the shaking shelf that they actually twisted the metal in his grip, but even then his purchase threatened to break. The hulking brute that was violently tearing at the framework below him didn't let up for a moment. And a moment was all that Cutter would have needed.

A list of expletives streamed from his mouth, even as his jaw snapped with the movement. What the hell had he gotten himself into? Goddamned rampaging robots, teen superheroes, giant green fireballs. This was all insane. What the heck was he thinking?

He looked down at the source of all his misery. Clad in her figure-hugging green and black jumpsuit, she wielded fistfuls of roaring green death like some sort of demon. Her long dark hair billowed in the aftermath of her plasmic discharge and her black lips were caught somewhere between a grimace and a grin.

His gaze traveled down to the floor below her, where she had dropped a small lump of smooth metal. Completely useless to anyone as anything other then a paperweight, yet she had brought it with her. Just as he had the night before.

A particularly brutal lurch in the shelf snapped him back to reality and Cutter swore loudly as he rode the tipping unit all the way down to the floor.

-

* * *

Ron scrambled like he never scrambled before. 

It felt like he was trapped in a forest of limbs, grabbing at him from all directions. He squirmed and twisted to keep out of each iron grip that threatened him. If one managed to grab him, then they all would, and he knew they would pull him apart like sisters fighting over a Barbie doll.

Ron saw the glimpse of an opening and he took it. He wormed through appendages as he would through the Middleton Primary jungle gym. Not that Ron would ever admit that he still visited the old playground of his youth… when no one was around. Out of the maze he popped and scurried around a corner. He cautiously peered back out at the three drones he had just escaped. The single-minded robots continued to grapple and reach in a huddle, looking for all the world like some sort of game of mutated Twister. They hadn't noticed his escape quite yet.

Ron turned and searched out Kim with concern, but immediately relaxed when he saw her dealing with one of the drones. He had complete faith in the young woman. Kim could do _anything_.

A groan of metal overlapping an angry shout made Ron's head spin to look the other direction.

"Shhhiiiiiiiiiiii….." Came the howl of Cutter as the massive shelving unit came crashing down towards where Ron hid.

"Ahhh!" The blonde teen screeched as he watched his doom drop on him. He didn't have enough time to react.

Which was why he was surprised to find himself crouched in a combat position three feet from where he had been sitting as the dust settled. He quickly palmed himself, checking to see if he was missing anything.

"Oh man," he groaned in relief. "Thank _you_ Monkey Power!"

His ease was quickly erased as the debris shifted. Ron struck another kung fu pose, although he feared the Mystical Monkey Power had left him again as quickly as it came. The ruined shelf and boxes of bolts lifted slightly and the grumbling form of Chris Cutter came pushing out, several tears in his grey shirt and small red cuts on his face.

"You!" Ron's eyes narrowed in remembered anger at the sight of the thief.

Cutter paused in the act of brushing himself off and regarded the blonde teenager uncertainly. He turned and looked behind him and then looked back to Ron. He pointed to himself in confusion.

"Me?"

"You're not going anywhere thief!" Ron held his fists at the ready and spread his stance wide. "Prepare to be Monkey Fu'd!"

Cutter continued to stare at him. "Are you serious?"

"Hai Yeeah!" Ron leapt at the silver-eyed man, whose eyes widened in surprise. Ron's foot snapped out to connect with his chest but the man flipped himself backwards with shocking speed and landed on four cocked limbs. Ron knew that the only way he could follow any of it was the fact that he still had access to a tiny bit of Tai Shing Pek Kwar.

"Is everyone here frigging nuts?" Cutter snarled, baring his teeth like an animal. Ron noticed that he stayed low on all fours with inhuman ease. For a moment, he looked almost… feral. Then, as if shaking it off, the man shuddered and brought himself up into a more human crouch. The movement looked strained. "Listen, Ron buddy. Now is not a good time to mess around. I really should just go."

"No!" Ron was surprised by how upset he was. "You're a thief and a liar!" His eyes narrowed dangerously. "And I am taking you _down_." With that, he swung at the crouching man.

Cutter caught the fist in his hand.

"Look, _dude_." He groaned at Ron. "I don't know _what_ your problem is, but you do _not_ want to fight with me. Ok? So just relax and let me pass."

Ron pulled at his arm angrily. Cutter's grip was rock hard and unflinching. The man was strong. Way stronger then him. But something in the back of Ron's head told him exactly what he needed to do.

His free hand shot out and grabbed onto Cutter's arm who jerked in surprise. Pivoting on his feet, Ron twisted his body weight around and pulled the dark man off balance. Then, keeping the momentum fluid, he heaved and actually threw the larger man over his shoulder. Cutter fell with a satisfying grunt and Ron maintained an attack position.

"_You're_ my problem, Chris… if that _is_ your real name. Or is it Smith? I _do_ get so confused when people lie to my face. Oh… and when they _throw my girlfriend at me_!"

Cutter stayed laying on his back, staring up into the ceiling. His jaw was jut forward in anger and he tapped his fingers on the ground irritably. Ron noticed he was taking slow, deep breaths through his nose.

"Look… Ron. I'm sorry I lied to you yesterday and… _threw_ Possible at you. It wasn't personal, man. It was just… business, I guess. Whatever." He rolled himself over and slowly rose to his feet, his silver eyes flashing. "But just trust me when I tell you that picking a fight with me right now is _not_ in your best interest." Ron noticed that all the cuts on his face had healed. Now that he thought of it… what had happened to wound on his hand where Kim grappled him yesterday? Both hands looked fine.

"Business?" Ron spat as he remembered why Kim had hooked him with the grapple in the first place. "You call pretending to be a friend business? I treated you like a _bro_ and you made me look like an idiot!"

Cutter stared at him in silence. His grim visage seemed to soften.

"Ron, I didn't mean it like that. I… I just… I don't really know how to…" He trailed off as something caught his attention behind the blonde teen. He stared right past Ron's shoulder.

"What?" Ron prodded him in annoyance. "You don't know how to do what?"

"Rampaging robot behind you." Cutter said simply. "Duck, dude."

-

* * *

Yet another huge Syntho went spiraling through the air in the wake of a green explosion. 

Shego was getting the distinct sense of déjà vu. She was sure she had blasted that particular drone with the deep gouges in its chest a couple times already. And every time, it got a little bit closer to grabbing her.

Another drone came at her from a different angle and was likewise blown away. And another. And another. Shego sent volley after volley of plasma in every direction. They just kept coming. Silently, powerfully, and unrelenting.

She snarled viciously as she ducked a heavy swipe. Pivoting expertly, she delivered an explosive fist (literally… as it exploded upon impact) into the gut of the attacking robot. The gel-filled construct bounced off the edge of a towering shelf as it soared through the air. It tumbled to the ground in a massive heap of twisted and bulging limbs. As she watched in frustration, it simply untangled itself and pulled back onto its feet, seemingly unharmed.

"Goddamn it!" Shego cursed. This wasn't working. These new mutated Synthos absorbed all impacts like their regular liquid-filled versions, but they didn't leak and deflate if their exoskin was punctured. She couldn't keep blasting them forever. Eventually she would just burn out. Already she had expended a large amount of energy this morning, and it was only being compounded by the heavy use of her power over the last couple days, no thanks to that bastard Cutter. She was slowly starting to feel the strain, like an overextended rubber band that threatened to snap.

As much as it annoyed her, she needed to conserve her glo. As the wave of flexible robots came returning to her, she switched to hand to hand. They still glowed with destructive power and augmented her already deadly skill as a martial artist, though they didn't quite roar with the same plasmic fury as when she emit the force as a ranged attack.

"Come on, crapsacks!" Shego actually smiled in anticipation. "I havn't got all day!" Truth be told, she preferred the feel of beating down an opponent, up close and personal.

-

* * *

Kim spared a glance over to see that Ron was fine after the shelf fell over before ducking behind another of the modular walls. There had been a moment of indescribable panic when she heard his shout cut off by the crash, and the relief at seeing him standing clear of it had been almost enough to loose her balance. But Kim had to be strong, she had to be solid. There was no room for mistakes in this business. 

The cheerleader leaped gracefully onto the modular shelf, flipped backwards onto the opposing face and rebounded up to grab onto the top ledge. Without a moments hesitation, she pulled herself up and over the edge to stand on top of the tall divider.

She could see across the whole massive warehouse from up there, but she focused immediately on the scene below her. The first thing she noticed was that Shego was combating four of the mutated Synthodrones on her own, her glowing fists sending them spinning with each explosive impact. Even so, Kim could see that she was hard pressed to hold her ground against the untiring machines.

Another four of the drones were starting to close on Ron and Cutter, who appeared to be arguing back and forth between themselves. She still knew practically nothing about this strange new character, but she trusted Ron to be able to handle himself for at least the time being.

That only left the one lone drone, which was following her path of retreat around the shelf and into the next corridor. She watched it carefully from above, noting how it moved and how it searched for her. The brute shambled along, staring straight ahead. It didn't even bother to look up. As she suspected, the mutated drone wasn't half as clever as Drakken's normal un-mutated Synthos (if one could call them clever). Unlike the more coordinated and calculating movements of the regular Synthodrones, these hulking ones simply attacked like mindless zombies. Kim hypothesized that Drakken had lost control of them, which is why they attacked everyone including Shego, but she needed Wade to verify it with a scan.

Her utility belt was back at her house, along with the vast majority of her usual gadgets. But Kim did have one tool handy. Quite possibly the most important next to the Kimmunicator itself. The first gadget Wade ever gave her.

Her hairdryer.

Well, it once was a hair dryer, anyway. The gun-shaped device that Kim pulled from her side holster hardly resembled the styling implement it was once based off of. Several different switches and knobs decorated its red surface as well as a set of handgun sights. A seemingly never-ending evolution of upgrades had transformed the cosmetic instrument into a sleek piece of high technology. One she relied on more then most of the many useful gadgets Wade readily supplied her with, which is why she always kept a spare in her car.

A deft snap of the wrist slid open an aperture on the underside of the dryer's handle from which the teen pulled a length of high-tension cable. She hooked the easy-clip end to the ledge of the shelf and took aim across the gulf to the opposing modular wall. Quickly adjusting the gadget's firing strength with her thumb, she then squeezed the trigger.

With a familiar pop, an adjustable all-purpose grapple shot from the barrel across the gap to hook itself onto the other shelving unit.

Directly below her, the shambling Synthodrone stopped.

Another flick of her thumb set the retraction speed to full. Another pull of the trigger set the internal high-powered winch mechanism, engineered by Wade to be able to lift half a metric tonne, whirring powerfully. She let go of the dryer as it pulled itself from her hands and the length of cable across the gap snapped into high tension.

The Synthodrone shifted its mass to gaze upwards with its glowing white orbs.

Kim braced herself as the opposite modular wall, the smaller of the two shelving units, was slowly pulled off its balance. Down it went crashing into the corridor, a few thousand pounds of nuts and bolts tipping it onto the unmoving Drone. Kim watched as its blank face disappeared from view.

Unfortunately, the unyielding cable that connected the two shelves pulled the cheerleader's own perch down as well. Kim yelped as her shelf jerked violently and started its decent. Snapping into action, she sprinted down the length of modular wall even as it tipped over. At the last possible moment, she leapt forward onto the next, unattached section. Behind her, both heavy units smashed into the floor with a resonating boom.

Kim looked back on the destruction she had caused and sighed. Her plan had worked a little too well. The drone was squashed and buried under all that rubble. She wasn't going to get a Kimmunicator scan out of that. And she didn't have a second spare hairdryer to tip over any more shelves.

"Great…" she grumbled. Looking back at the struggle below her, she caught a glimpse of flashing green. Shego fought on and she couldn't even see where the two boys had gotten to. Plan D was a bust, but she had one other idea left.

The one she really didn't want to use.

-

* * *

A thousand miles away, on a remote Caribbean island, inside a dark castle carved out of a rocky peak, gloved fingers tapped impatiently on a table. 

Dr Drakken, evil genius and certified megalomaniac, sat on a stool at his workbench in the cavernous control room, leaning his blue cheek into his fist while his other hand drummed against the metal surface. He glanced at his wrist, realizing too-late that he didn't wear a watch.

"Auuggh." He moaned melodramatically and rubbed his face. "What is _taking_ her? I need that adjustment bolt!" Drakken stood up and began to pace. He had been waiting on the last two pieces for his Reverse Engineering Ray. Shego was supposed to be getting the bolt. He had sent a small army to back her up, plus he had activated the experimental berserker upgrade on his Synthodrones to further distract Kim Possible. His green-suited sidekick should have had no problem escaping with the item, particularly with the new Super-Synthos at her command. But, as usual, she was taking her sweet time.

Attempts to check in with the robots themselves through his supercomputer uplink were also fruitless. Apparently the drones had been severed from the link. Drakken worried that maybe all the Synthodrones had burned through their powercells faster then he originally calculated. The berserker command reduced the lifecycle of the robots substantially, but he had expected them to last more then ten freakin' minutes. The idea that they might be rampaging independently of the computer's control never even entered the mad scientists head.

Instead, Drakken turned his mind to stew over the other missing part: the Quantum Matrix amplifier. He had bought it fair and square (typically unheard of for the frugal villain) from an online auction. Attempts to contact the seller to arrange a prompt delivery were also going unanswered. He had sent out several emails detailing his secret location as well as demanding immediate transport. Drakken swore, if he didn't get his Amplifier by the end of the day, he was going to give this "scissorkid33" such a crappy feedback rating.

The man's black ponytail whipped around as he stormed back over to the massive supercomputer. The drones weren't connected, the online seller wasn't answering, and Shego wasn't back yet. He had nothing to do but wait.

"I hate waiting." The scarred man growled as he set to work preparing for the eventual party-crashing Kim Possible, as he had always known she would come running the moment she caught wind of his latest world-domination scheme. It was simply a matter of time. And while his Reverse Engineering Ray was not quite ready for it's trial run on the meddling redhead, that did not mean he couldn't roll out the red carpet for her.

"Ah, yes, Kim Possible." Drakken grinned devilishly. "Try and stop me this time… I _dare_ you." And with a series of hesitant keystrokes a start-up command was sent out from the computer through the castle's hardwired network.

Deeper in the bowls of the fortress, an automated assembly line roared to life.

-

* * *

"Damn it! Move!" Cutter snarled as he drug the stumbling Ron Stoppable along. The towering corridors passed around them as they fled into the maze. 

"Let go of me you jerk hole!" The blonde teen tugged at the iron grip on his black mission shirt. The silver-eyed thief pulled them along with such speed that Ron could hardly keep pace. He longed to punch the deceptive man in the face, but looking behind him he held his fist at bay. Four massive drones stomped steadily after them.

"Faster you jerk hole!"

Cutter glanced at him in annoyance, but quickly caught sight of the closing pursuit. "Hold on!" He grabbed onto Ron's wrist roughly and veered towards the shelves.

"Ow!" The teen yelped. "What are you…"

Ron's voice cut off in a cry as he was lifted into the air. Without loosing any speed, Cutter scaled straight up the shelves with his three free limbs, dragging with him a bouncing Ron Stoppable. With a powerful heave, he leaped onto the ledge and pulled the hollering young man up with him.

Ron hardly had a moment to process what had just happened when Cutter's shining eyes locked onto his. "Run!" He snarled through his bared teeth, four of which were sharp and fang-like. With that, the dark-haired man spun and sprinted down the length of shelf. Ron stared after him dumbfounded until he managed to look down.

Just in time to see four sets of massive arms grab for the modular wall.

"Whaaa!" The blonde teen stumbled down the narrow walkway after Cutter just as the whole thing began to tip over.

-

* * *

Shego kicked off one grasping hulk to back flip up into the air. As she became inverted over the second drone that had been coming up behind her, she brought two glowing fists smashing down on its head. The impact sent the Syntho collapsing to the floor, its gel-filled skull deformed viciously. Even as she landed lithely from the maneuver, she saw the downed drone stir while the other continued its advance. 

"Aarrgh!" She growled. "This is retarded!"

The other two Synthos came in from the sides, effectively blocking her immediate escape. And Shego was starting to think that escape was her only option, if only the damned robots stopped attacking her for a second.

"You know…" came a familiar voice from above. Shego looked up just in time to see Kim Possible drop onto the shoulders of one drone, covering its tiny white orbs with her hands. She locked gazes with Shego as the Syntho started waving its arms around stupidly. "Calling someone 'retarded' is not politically correct."

Shego reflexively spun around and dove under the powerful swipe of the approaching drone on the other side of her. Rolling sideways, she came up and swung her interwoven fists into the back of the drone. She used enough explosive power to send the robot flying across. Kim immediately leapt up and over the soaring drone as it barrelled into the one she had just been straddling. Both Synthos continued on their merry way, smashing through a couple smaller displays even as Kim dropped onto the floor in front of Shego.

"Oh, well…" Shego sneered. "Look at Princess Politically Correct here." She took a moment to drive a superhuman elbow into the gut of the next Syntho and follow through with an explosive uppercut that sent it sailing. She turned back to Kim. "Why don't you run off to cheerleading practice, Kimmie, and mind your own business."

"Look…" Kim stared at the green woman. Not far from her the deformed-headed drone crawled upright. With hardly a glance, the cheerleader sent a handful of razor-pointed hairclips from her side pocket at the two glowing orbs mounted within the warped skull, effectively blinding it. The drone immediately stopped what it was doing and clumsily grabbed at its mutated face, doing more damage then good. The teen frowned at Shego. "We need to work together if we are going to take these goons down."

"Speak for yourself." Shego snorted. "I'm holding my own."

"But for how long?" The younger woman implored. "I don't see any of these guys staying down."

Shego scowled in response.

"I don't like it anymore then you do, but it's the only option left." She gave the green thief a withering look that she quickly tried to cover with one of sincerity. But Shego saw it. She saw what the young woman really thought about working together.

And Shego, for all her scornful remarks and sarcastic looks, she felt more then a little hurt by that.

"Don't do me any favors." She mumbled at the younger woman, who rolled her eyes in response.

"Come _on_, Shego."

"Fine, princess." Shego relented, even as the three drones she had sent flying came shambling back. Both women turned outward and assumed similar fighting stances. "What exactly do you have in mind?" Even as she spoke the words, she heard the distinctive crash of falling shelves off to her left.

"First we find Ron." Kim responded.

Shego rolled her eyes. "Of course. And while we're at it, that Cutter idiot, too."

Kim gave her a befuddled look.

"Hey, I help _you_… you help _me_."

"Fine." Kim sighed. "Let's go." And together, as if they had been working in sync for years, they sprinted forward. The two moved so quickly, and in such a synchronized fashion that the Synthodrone they swept through stood dumbfounded as it was flattened.

-

* * *

The rhythmic thumping of heavy footfalls receded behind Ron as he leaned hard against the rack of Nut-Lock cans. He stayed there, holding his breath as the drones continued their pursuit, oblivious to his hiding place. A relieved sigh escaped his lips, even as the dark form next to him elbowed him sharply. 

"Hush up." Cutter hissed. "You'll give us away."

"Quite elbowing me." Ron hissed right back. "And hush up yourself."

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't pant like a freakin' dog." The thief curled his lip, revealing a hint of fang.

"Look who's talking." Ron spat.

"What the hell is _that_ suppose to mean?"

"What exactly _are_ you, anyway? Some sort of mutant? Or just a guy with a really bad orthodontist?"

Cutter's head jerked back in indignation. "What?" He opened his mouth slightly and ran his tounge over his pointed canines. "Aw, crap." He muttered.

"You'd better get those capped before you put an eye out."

"Shut up!" Cutter growled. "You don't know anything about me!"

"That wouldn't be because you lied to me, would it?"

"Oh for…" The man rubbed his face in agitation. "Would you stop it with that crap already?"

"Yeah." Ron narrowed his eyes. "Enough messing around." He spun around and grabbed the man by his grey t-shirt. "Hand over the bolt!"

Cutter stared at him incredulously. "What?"

"Hand over the silver bolt! The one you were stealing from Shego!"

"Stealing from… oh my lord." Cutter threw his hands in the air. "I wasn't stealing anything from…"

Ron gave him a shake. "Give it!"

Cutter's silver eyes flashed dangerously. "If you wreck this shirt…"

"I'm warning you…" Ron threatened.

"No." The thief cut him off. "_I'm_ warning _you_." And then his hands were on Ron's wrists, pulling them off with terrible strength. Ron immediately tried to think of what to do, what amazing Tai Shing Pek Kwar move to counteract the hold and reverse the situation, but the answers were not there. And with a sickening realization he knew that his mystical monkey powers had left him once again.

"You can't beat me, Ron." Cutter slowly rose to his feet; the younger man had no choice but to follow him. "No one can." Their eyes were locked and Ron felt his mouth go dry at the deadly look in the thief's sharp face. But then Cutter blinked and gave a start. He looked at his hands, as if suddenly noticing them for the first time. The deadly pressure on Ron's wrists released.

Cutter's look to Ron was plaintive. "And if you keep trying, you will only die."

Ron didn't know how to respond. He was caught somewhere between anger, confusion and an indescribable fear in his gut that he had rarely experienced before. For some reason, he wanted to run. Run away from this man. But he had no idea why.

"What are you?" He asked again.

Cutter was silent. Once again, he ran his tongue over his teeth, testing his fangs. He snorted in amusement. "I wish I knew."

And then the Synthos came.

-

* * *

Around the corner Kim swung, her green and black companion immediately behind. And not far behind her, stormed three drones. The forth had practically dug its own eyes out, trying to get at the barbs she had thrown there. As far as she knew, it was still stumbling around where they had left it. 

That left seven drones to contend with. She ran the numbers through her head, even as she cleared a display case and immediately bounced off another. Anything to distract her from the conflict of emotions working with Shego brought upon her.

It wasn't the first time they had been forced to combine forces. It wasn't even too long ago they had been best friends. She had spent almost every waking minute with the woman, shopping, gossiping and just hanging out. It had shocked her how well she and her arch nemesis had got along. They were as close as sisters.

No. Kim reminded herself. That wasn't Shego. Not the _real_ Shego. No more then Ron had been himself when _he_ had been zapped by the Additudinator. Yes, it had been that nefarious device that Jack Hench had built. The one that turned good people bad and bad people good. It was a lie. Her friendship with Shego had been a lie.

"Left or right, Kimmie?" The green skinned woman called out.

But Kim was already dodging to her right, following the obvious trail of destruction. She just hoped that Ron was ok.

"Tee up!" Shego called out. Kim instinctively reached out to grab onto the shelf that still stood next to her, full to capacity with an assortment of bolts and fasteners. Hauling herself quickly up, she reached out and jerked the safety pin that held the shelves from above. At the same time, Shego dashed along the bottom and tore away at the bracing at the bottom. Both women leapt free as the Synthos barrelled around the corner and the heavy contents of the racks simply fell on them.

It would not stop them, but it slowed them down substantially. The two girls had the executed the routine as if it had been a well choreographed dance. But in truth, they had just come up with it on the fly. Throughout their professional relationship, both women had battled each other so much and so often that they almost read each other like twins.

Kim saw Shego glance back at the chaos. She flashed Kim a wicked smile and continued running. She was enjoying this! And the younger woman had to fight herself to keep from returning the grin. She hated to admit it… but she was having fun too.

Around one more corner the unlikely duo came to an unexpected stop.

The four missing Synthos and the two missing guys were there, caught in the middle of a small square. Cutter was obscured, but was immediately forgotten. She could see Ron being lifted into the air by one of the drones.

"Ron!" She screamed. And without realizing it, she had crossed the distance in three dramatic leaps, flying at the struggling young man. She barrelled into Ron, knocking him out of the robot's grasp and throwing him to the floor.

Together they landed in the midst of the rampaging drones. Kim had hardly a moment to see that Ron was ok before the brutes fell upon them.

"Kim!" Ron gasped. "Get out of here!"

"No! Not without you!" She struggled against their powerful arms. She didn't have a plan anymore. The sight of Ron in danger had sent her rushing in without forethought. Something she _never_ did. But she would do it again for Ron. She cried out as she was lifted away from him.

"Kim!" Ron practically shrieked.

Higher she was lifted and then pulled by two sets of hands. She felt her body stretch under the strain and gasped in pain. Colors crept at the edge of her vision and she understood that she would be torn apart very soon.

Then, a drone went flying.

Kim spun her head to see what had happened, trying to find some kind of opening. It became hard to focus her eyes.

Then another drone went flying.

A familiar green glow flashed across her vision and she saw Shego leaping into the fray. Behind her, something made the drone shudder. Her face swivelled the other direction, and she saw a muscled arm, veins popping, pulling at the Syntho's grip. Cutter's silver eyes were narrow slits and his lips were curled back into a vicious snarl that almost made her shudder.

"Hold on, Kim!" She heard Ron shout. Then a set of human arms wrapped around her waist and tried to pull her away from the drone. She heard the tell-tale pop as Shego dispatched yet another Syntho.

She felt the drone's grip loosen. A deep reverberation escaped Cutter's throat and the mutated synthetic arms drew back further.

Then a bright green filled her vision as Shego's glowing fist roared overhead, smashing into the drone's chest. The impact knocked the robot back and Kim popped out of its grip and into the tugging embrace of Ron Stoppable.

"Oh, God. Kim." Ron buried his face in her red hair. "Don't you ever do that again."

She felt her strength start to return to her arms and managed to raise them to return the embrace. "It's ok, Ron. I'm ok… you're ok. We're ok."

Ron pulled back to arms length and bored into her eyes with his own watery brown ones. "What were you thinking?"

Kim smiled at him. "About you."

Ron stood dumbfounded. Then he laughed and kissed her.

-

* * *

Shego watched the couple with mixed feelings. 

Part of her simply couldn't comprehend the two of them together. The capable and skilled Kim Possible and the bumbling Ron Stoppable. In all honesty, she never imagined any man being good enough for her long-time adversary. Much like herself in many ways.

But then, she could see how they felt about each other and how the dufus practically worshipped her. It made her glad that someone appreciated how special she was which was probably more then most guys would offer her. Maybe he did deserve her for that.

Then, Shego got annoyed with herself for thinking such soft, touchy-feely crap.

Turning back to the matter at hand, she faced the Synthodrone she had just knocked into a wall. As she had expected, the thing started to stir, but not entirely of its own volition.

Into the air the squirming robot was slowly raised as Cutter pushed his way out from between it and the wall where he had been sandwiched. With an audible heave, he tossed the larger drone sideways and stumbled forward with an unpleasant look on his face.

"That hurt?" Shego smiled obnoxiously at the brunette man.

"You knew I was holding onto that." He growled.

"Really?" She feigned shock. "You poor thing."

"Guys!" The commanding voice of Kim Possible cut through the air. "We need to regroup!"

Sure enough, the Synthos were starting to surround them yet again, this time joined by the three who had been following Kim and Shego. The green woman immediately backtracked towards the center of the square.

"What?" Cutter called after Shego. "You suddenly working for _her_ now?"

"No one asked you, moron." She called back as she met up with the two teens. Back to back, facing the surrounding threat, she was only half surprised to see the man shrug and bound over to join them.

"Ok, we need to work together if we want to get out of here in once piece." Kim surveyed the area. "Are you all with me?"

"Always." Ron responded sincerely.

"Ugh." Shego groaned. "Gag me."

"Yes, someone please gag her." Cutter mumbled.

"You want to eat some greens?" Shego snapped back and raised a glowing fist.

"Make sure you hit him in the teeth so he doesn't look so freaky." Ron snorted.

"You know what, Ron?" Cutter started to turn around.

"Enough!" Kim silenced them all with a piercing shout. "This is _so_ not the time! We can't do this if you keep fighting!" Shego shifted uncomfortably and bit back her retort. "Now… are you all with me?"

"Yeah." Ron said.

"Sure." Cutter mumbled.

Shego smirked sarcastically. "You're the boss, pumpkin."

"Thank you, Shego." Kim said quietly. The green woman turned around and met the younger woman's gaze. She knew that it was for more then just falling in line, but for saving her life.

"Don't mention it."

Kim actually smiled a little at that. And for some reason Shego didn't feel like rolling her eyes.

"Ok," the redhead turned back to the slowly closing drones, some of which dragged themselves along with twisted limbs. "We need to figure out a way to take these guys down for good."

"Why doesn't sweetpea here just blow them away?" Cutter piped up as he prowled along the ground.

"I already tried that, jackass." She retorted. "Doesn't work."

"Oh, whatever." Cutter snorted. "I've seen you destroy half a building."

"I can't just do stuff like that whenever I feel like it." She snapped back. "It expends too much energy and strains my system. I've already used too much of my power over the last couple days, thanks to _you_."

"Ok, ok…" Kim interjected. "So we can't vaporize them, we can't bleed them out, and we don't have anything big and sharp to cut them apart. We need another alternative. We need Wade."

"Who?" Cutter cocked his head.

"If we can get a hold of one of them long enough for me to scan it with my Kimmunicator, Wade can find a weakness."

"How we gonna get a hold of one without the others beating us to a pulp in the process?" Ron groaned.

"I can grab one." Cutter growled. The animal sound gave Shego a shiver. "I'm sure I can hold one long enough for your _whatchimacallit_."

"And I can hold back the hordes while you do it." Shego added in, not about to be outdone by the annoying man.

"By yourself?" Ron sounded unconvinced. Around them the seven drones closed in.

Shego smiled viciously and raised her glowing hands.

"Piece of cake."

-

* * *

Wade Load waited impatiently. In truth he was still doing a dozen things at once, including continuing the hunt for the algorithm, but he kept looking back at the Kimmunicator uplink, waiting for the scan. He could see from the vitals and sat-link that everyone was still in once piece and mobile, but he couldn't tell what exactly was going on until Kim updated him. The periphery sensors on the Kimmunicator informed him of a little, though. Enough to tell him that Kim was surrounded by drones and three other people. One was Ron, one was Shego and the other had to be Cutter. 

One of the things Wade was doing to occupy himself was monitor the incidental scans of the odd thief, who even then seemed to be crawling around on all fours like a beast. Besides that obvious oddity, a few other things struck the child-genius as strange. Things like unusual body temperature and measurable shifts in weight distribution not to mention the sudden bursts of inhuman speed and strength he seemed to be displaying. At first, Wade was content to blame the abnormalities on the electromagnetic interference that close proximity to Shego and her plasmic powers always caused. Plus, the periphery sensors were nowhere near as accurate as the full-on deep-scanning that the Kimmunicator was capable of.

Nevertheless, something seemed off about Cutter, and Wade prided himself on collecting as much information as possible to help his team mates. If he couldn't crack the WEE algorithm to gather background intel on Chris Cutter right away… then maybe he could take a more direct approach.

Wade began programming another deep-scan protocol, even as he waited for the first one to go through, preparing for the next narrow window of opportunity.

-

* * *

All Ron Stoppable could do was duck. 

Over his blonde head sailed yet another Synthodrone, courtesy of the violent Shego. Almost single-handedly, she was holding back most of the drones. Ron saw another burst of green light and heard her laugh out loud.

But what surprised Ron the most was the actions of Chris Cutter. Not only had the thief come to Kim's aid during the fight, but he seemed to hold his own against the unstoppable mutant-Synthos. Another vicious growl came from the silver-eyed man and he barrelled into another hulking robot, actually knocking it backwards off its feet before bouncing and leaping onto another. Ron swore he was getting more and more feral by the minute.

And of course, Kim kept busy. She danced among the drones lithely, easily dodging their powerful attacks and leading them to collide and combat with each other as much as with her. Always watching, always planning. Waiting for the perfect opportunity to execute the plan.

All Ron could do was duck.

It ate away at his inside that he had nothing to offer the group. He couldn't even help save Kim from the drone. Shego and even the ass Cutter had saved her. All he could do was watch and wonder why he couldn't find his monkey powers. Here one minute, and gone the next, even when he needed them most. And Ron understood that it was his fault in the first place. His inability to pull his own weight that got Kim in trouble to begin with. She had risked it all to save him.

Ron sighed sadly, and tried to keep out of the way.

-

* * *

Even as Kim landed in a roll, the two Synthos behind her tripped over each other's feet. She quickly surveyed the area. 

"We need to get to the wall!" She shouted out. "Put our backs to it!"

"Hold you're horses!" Shego raised her glowing hands into the air, which flared up brightly. "Fire in the hole!" Down they came, and a volley of explosive plasma shot forth.

Kim ducked next to Ron and the wake of the detonation rolled over them. She glanced up and saw that a smoking gap had been cleared between the surrounding drones.

"Ok, move!" Kim shouted. She and Ron leaped up and sprinted through the gap. Turning to make sure the other two were following them, she stopped short. Shego was stumbling forward, her hand on her head.

"Shego!" Kim called out, even as two massive drones closed on her.

-

* * *

Her head spun in circles and she fought to clear it enough to run. 

Too much, too much power. She felt the strain inside of her quiver. She was so terribly close to snapping that tight reign. And once it was gone, she feared she would simply burn herself to ash.

She stumbled on. She had to get clear.

She intuitively sensed the two drones thanks to years of combat training. But she had no defence. She didn't dare use her power until her head cleared, and even then her balance was shot. Despite the hopelessness, she swung at them. Shego never gave in. Not ever. She snarled viciously.

Confusion set in when the sound she heard was more animal then human.

A blur of black and grey smashed into the first drone, riding it to the ground. Without a moment's hesitation, the snarling creature bounded up and at the second drone. A muscled arm met a synthetic one, and there was the briefest moment of frozen movement as the two powerful arms held each other solid. Shego saw Cutter's face, twisted into something terrifying. His lips were curled back to show inch-long fangs and his silver eyes shined with something monstrous.

Muscles bulged and veins popped. The synthetic arm was snapped backwards into a sickening angle. The drone, feeling no pain, swung at the man with his free arm. Cutter caught it and pulled brutally, swinging the entire drone off its feet. Across the room it sailed.

Then those sliver points focused on her.

Shego almost fell over, trying to prepare herself for a fight. She had seen that look before; feral and predatory. She had fought him before to this point, where he seemed to change into something else. Something that she wasn't sure wouldn't simply eat her.

Cutter shot towards her faster then anything. Even had she been at full capacity she wouldn't have been able to react quickly enough. She tried anyway.

But he didn't snap her neck, or tear out her heart. He grabbed her and ran. In two bounding leaps, he had cleared the gap to the wall.

Shego instinctively drove her elbow into his temple, even as she realized that he wasn't trying to kill her. She was rewarded with a reverberating growl that came from deep inside his chest and she felt all the way to her toes. He lowered her to the ground and gave her an unpleasant look.

"Stop hitting me, sweetpea."

"You're not an animal?" Shego asked, head still swimming. Even as the question escaped her lips, it hardly made any sense to her.

But Cutter looked at her, as if he understood what she meant. "You're lucky." Was all he said. Then he was gone.

Shego blinked. And then two teenage faces filled her vision.

"You ok?" Kim sounded more then a little concerned. Ron, on the other hand, simply looked sceptical.

"Yeah." She lied a little. "Just give me a minute, and I'll be back to kicking ass."

"Good." The cheerleader's face hardened. "Cause I hate to admit it, but we need you right now."

-

* * *

Chris Cutter grabbed onto the drone's head and twisted it into a full 180. It stumbled off in the wrong direction as he flipped backwards to scurry along the floor to the next one. It tried to stomp at him but he snaked around and smashed it in the knee joint. Even as it tipped over, he stood and heaved the entire robot forward into the path of another. 

He was skating a razor's edge, he knew. The desire to simply tear out the throats of the synthetic soldiers with his teeth ebbed at the back of his head. Even now, running upright on two limbs felt almost unnatural and he found himself loping along on four without thinking. He growled and knew it wasn't a human sound.

Into the air he leapt, right over the approach of the next Syntho to reach out and grab onto his back. He flexed special muscles and retractable claws burst from his fingertips intending to find purchase on the robot's skin. Normally, they were tiny things, useful only for climbing, but this time inch-long talons issued forth to leave a snaking trail down the thing's back. Cutter grabbed on with his other hand and pulled mightily. The whole drone was lifted backwards and over his head.

Cutter grew even more concerned as he looked at his clawed hands. Normally, he was already too far gone when this happened. For whatever reason, he was just managing to retain his faculties. A range of sounds and smells assaulted him, beyond the capacity of anyone human to navigate. But one stood out.

Spicy. Like hot cinnamon. He had been drowning in it as he carried her to the wall, her flowing black hair wafting next to his cheek, and now it lingered around him. Half memory, half reality.

He focused on that scent. Revelled in it. And through it, he tied himself to the world. He would not get lost. Not while he had a trail to follow back.

Crouched low to the ground, Cutter held his slashing hands to either side and faced the oncoming horde. He smiled toothily, white fangs displayed prominently. Had the robots been anything but mindless, they would have hesitated at that grin.

-

* * *

While Cutter held back the horde Kim's strategic mind raced. They were backed into the wall, which afforded them a narrower defensive line. The trade-off being, of course, that they had nowhere to retreat. She watched Cutter warily as he tossed the super-drones aside. It wasn't exactly subtle, the change that was overtaking the dark-haired thief. What the change meant, she couldn't be sure. Nevertheless, she needed Shego back on the defensive so he could grapple a drone. She turned to the sitting woman. 

"You back up?"

Shego took a steadying breath and shook the cobwebs from her head. The gaze that she gave Kim was as defiant as ever. "Just get that bouncing idiot out of my way."

Kim couldn't stop herself from smiling. Shego was, quite possibly, the strongest woman she had ever met.

"Alright." She turned and yelled at the fighting Cutter. "Heads up!" She spun around to Ron, who stood beside her unobtrusively. With a flick of the wrist, she handed the Kimmunicator to him. "Ron, I need _you_ to do the scan."

"What?" His eyebrows rose.

"I need to distract the drones with Shego, she can't do it alone."

"Speak for yourself." The green woman groaned as she stood up, but made no other arguments against the idea.

"But Kim…" Ron sputtered. "I don't know if I should…"

"I need you, Ron." She cut him off. Their shared look saying more then words could. "I _know_ you can do this."

Ron's posture stiffened and his jaw firmed. He took the device. "You can count on me, Kim."

She smiled. "I know I can." She turned back to Shego. "Let's do it."

"Finally." Shego snorted, and she leapt forward.

-

* * *

Even as her hands burst into glowing green flames, she braced herself for the wave of nausea. It hit her, as she knew it would, but not as powerfully as she had feared. Being careful not to push it too hard, she kept the blaze around her fists to a minimum. Just enough to cause some damage. She smiled without mirth. She couldn't help but cause damage, even weakened as she was. 

Together with Kim she charged into the fray. The cheerleader went right. She went left.

The first drone she came upon was a particularly ugly-looking thing. One leg was twisted at a bizarre angle, giving it a lurching gait. Chris-crossing its chest and head was a myriad of slashes and cuts, exposing the semi-solid gel that popped out as if the robot had burst at the seams. It reached at her clumsily and she almost casually backhanded it with an explosive palm.

Past that, she found Cutter. He was latched onto a synthetic arm, tearing deep gashes with is hands. It was then that she realized he had claws. The drone connected with the dark-haired man across the face, and sent him sprawling to the floor.

With an angry shout, she leapt forward and sent a glowing fist into the robot's own blank face, practically flipping the thing end over end. She dropped down to check on Cutter.

His head whipped around and snarled at her, spittle flying from between his fangs. She jerked backwards reflexively, ready to defend. But the snarl ended as quickly as it started as he seemed to suddenly recognize her.

"Sweetpea?" He tested the air, as if smelling something familiar. Then he smiled crookedly. "Done napping?"

"Shut up." She didn't sound half as angry as she meant to. "Get your ass over to the sidekick with one of these things. Me an' Kimmie are gonna cover you."

He surprised her by looking concerned. "You ok to do this?"

"Just get over there you idiot." She snapped. "Before I punch out your pointy teeth."

The dork actually smiled at her, but drew his lips together into a toothless grin at the mention of his fangs. He locked gazes with her for the barest moment. Shego didn't punch him, like she had intended to. She wasn't exactly sure why.

Then he was gone. A flash of silver across her vision where his eyes had once been. She didn't have time to look and see where he went, because two more drones fell upon her. Her power flashed as she connected left and right. She was a living weapon, forged by the cosmos themselves. Not even at her weakest did Shego relent.

-

* * *

Ron stood and watched as Cutter loped along the edge of the skirmish. He looked like a lion picking through a herd. He flowed through the movements as if he was the one filled with gel and not the robots. Most of the Synthos didn't even notice him, so focused on the combined distractions of Kim and Shego. The brunette man slinked along close to the ground like a prowling beast. 

And then he grabbed one.

The movement was so quick and violent that Ron actually jerked. In an instant Cutter had clutched the unsuspecting drone by the neck and thrown it to the ground. Without a second's pause, he was on the Syntho. His fist went down once, twice into the robot's face. A massive arm reached up to grab at the straddling man, but Cutter intercepted it and snapped it into a 45 degree angle. Ron winced. If the Synthodrone had any bones to break, he would almost have felt sorry for it.

Unfortunatly the drone's second arm swung out to bat the smaller man away. Cutter was propelled sideways onto the ground by the powerful impact. Even wounded, the mutant Synthos had incredible strength.

But even as Cutter few from the drone, he spun and landed like a cat, skidding backwards on four limbs. He hardly slid three feet before he launched himself back at his adversary. The impact sent them tumbling together in a rolling mess, Cutter snarling loudly and he tore at the drone.

Ron ran forward, trying to close the gap between them. He held the Kimmunicator in front of him, primed for a scan. As he neared the grappling pair, he held back, waiting for the right moment.

They twisted and rolled. Cutter moving his whole body around the larger drone as if scaling a giant. The drone shuddered and thrashed, trying to dislodge the unrelenting man. Quicker then it seemed, he had made his way on top of the robot and held fast.

"Ron! Where are you?" The dark man bellowed. "This is as good as it's going to get!"

"I'm here!" Ron shouted. He keyed up the Kimmunicator, and the familiar face of Wade Load suddenly appeared on its small screen. "Wade! Cutter's got a Syntho pinned! I'm about to scan it!"

"Chris Cutter's there?" Wade asked quickly.

"Uhh…" Ron hesitated. "Yeah?"

"Good." Wade typed at his keyboard. "Go ahead, I'm ready."

Ron snapped into action. He cleared the eight-foot gap between himself and the grapple and raised the device in front of him. Automatically, no doubt the work of Wade himself, a green beam of light shot from the edge of the small gadget. Slowly, it traced over the drone, once and twice.

"Is it done?" Cutter grunted, his head turned to face the wrong direction.

"Uh… not yet." Ron narrowed his eyes in confusion. The green light continued moving. It rose up and started tracing Cutter.

"This isn't as easy as I make it look." Cutter growled. The drone lurched underneath him.

Once and twice the green beam ran over the dark-haired thief. Then it disappeared. Ron looked questioningly at Wade's freckled face.

"All done." The child genius winked at Ron. "I'll get the results back to you in a minute max."

"Ok, uh… thanks, Wade." Ron smirked at the younger man, suspecting that he was up to something. "Sooner then later, please." The screen winked out and Ron looked back at the struggling pair. "It's done. You can, um, get off it now."

"Cool." Cutter said through his teeth. "I just want to try something while I'm here." And Ron jerked back reflexively as the man snapped his muscled arms up and around the Synthodrone's head. With a horrible twist, he snarled and tore the drone's head off.

Ron stood, his mouth agape as the robot continued to thrash and swing, seemingly oblivious to the weight that had been lifted from its shoulders. Severed wires and chunks of semi-solid gel flopped around in the jagged hole.

"Well…" Cutter bounced the severed head between his hands. "Now we know _that_ doesn't kill them."

-

* * *

Elsewhere in the store, an insistent beeping awoke a man in a red jumpsuit. He stirred from the floor where he had been lying and groaned as he sat himself up, rubbing his masked head. 

"Aw… man." He moaned. "Did anyone get the license plate on that redhead?"

The beeping came from his utility pocket from which he produced a small plastic box. The chiming device had a little red light that blinked at him.

He looked around him, seeing the rest of his elite henchmen crew lying in various states of consciousness. They were all beeping. This wasn't the first time they had been soundly beaten by the teenaged superhero, but it was never a satisfying thought to wake up to.

Then a high-pitched keen flittered across his perception that stirred unpleasant memories. He glanced out the gaping hole in the wall from where the sirens were coming.

His boot kicked out and connected with the closest comrade, lying on his stomach.

"Hey! Bill! Wake up! The cops are coming!"

Bill groaned loudly and rolled over to look at his assailant.

"Just five more minutes, mom."

"Get up!" The henchman scrambled to his feet, waving the blinking and beeping box. "We got the signal! We gotta get moving!"

And so they set to work, shaking and kicking everyone up, organizing a strategic retreat.

-

* * *

"Ron's waving us over!" Kim called to Shego. She swung around and between the drone's legs, kicking them out as she went. The drone lost its balance and fell backwards. She dodged a swipe from another and threw an elbow into its face, causing it to step back. 

"And what exactly are we going to do once we get there, Kimmie?" Came the mocking reply. Flashes of green preceded the typical Syntho soaring overhead, of which Kim had to quickly duck to avoid getting clipped. Luckily it ran into the staggering drone she had just elbowed instead. She was noticing that Shego's explosive impacts were not sending the drones flying as far as they had been. She herself was starting to feel fatigued as well. They needed to end this. All it would take was one lucky hit and a drone could cripple them.

"We have to trust that Wade's found a weakness!" She cart wheeled between two more Synthos to come face-to-face with the green woman. The moment she saw her face she winced involuntarily. Shego looked drawn tight as a bowstring, he cheeks seemed hollow and her eyes bagged. "Come on. We need to regroup."

The older woman's emerald eyes denied her obvious exhaustion and she laughed defiantly. "All right, princess. If you need a break, just say so."

Kim smiled at the woman's evident guile. Together they leapt and dodged their way past the three drones between them and the boys, Shego not even bothering to use her power anymore. Cutter met them halfway and kicked the final robot in the ass, sending it bowling into the others behind it. All three of them fell back to Ron, who stood with the Kimmunicator still in hand.

"About time you got back here." He said with good humour.

"What? Did Wade find a weakness?" Kim quickly interrogated her partner. "Did he call us back yet? Is there some sort of techno-thing he can do?"

"Chill, Kim." Ron padded the air in front of him. "Wade's finished deciphering the scan."

"And what did he say?" She started getting annoyed. She glanced back at the regrouping drones.

"Well…" Ron began casually. "From what I can figure from all his techno-babble, Drakken put a special nano additive into the synthogel itself that mutated these bad boys into the dudes you see before you."

"That's great." Shego piped up angrily, hunched over from fatigue. "Now how do we friggin' kill 'em?"

"I'm getting to that." Ron responded indignantly. "Wade says the only way to really stop them is to cut them into pieces. That or destroy their armoured power source, which is somewhere in the chest."

"Wonderful." Kim groaned. The drones drew closer. "And here I left my samurai sword at the cleaners."

"You use a sword?" Cutter gave her a gullible look.

"So basically we have nothing on hand to take them out." Shego dropped to one knee. She really looked tired. Kim had never seen her look as defeated as she did at that moment.

"Basically, yes." Ron shrugged, unconcerned. The drones came even closer.

"Then why are you so damned calm?" Shego hissed at him. Even Kim, whose mind was racing through possibilities at that moment, had to admit that he was uncharacteristically composed. She gave him a suspecting look.

"Ah, my dear Shego." Ron smiled and spoke with comically proper english. "You see, in addition to super strength, unstoppable resilience and a mindless desire to kill, there is one other side effect to the mutation." Ron lifted his hand to casually look at the Kimmunicator even as the nearest drone closed within a few steps. The other three took a reflexive step back. "They use a lot more juice then the regular ol' Synthos. And according to Wade's calculations, they should run out of power right… about…"

The drone suddenly froze.

Ron gave a chesire grin. "Now."

One by one, the drones suddenly stopped moving. Some slowed to a crawl before they eventually haulted, others simply froze in mid step. Kim, along with the others, stared at the scene in mute shock.

Ron turned around to regard them, the frozen drone mere inches from grabbing Ron's head. "I believe this calls for a Booyah! A, Booy-_aaah_!" Ron's cheer ended in a cry as Kim pulled him free from the solid Synthodone as it toppled over where he had just been standing.

All the drones fell over then. And as they hit the ground, they cracked and broke apart, the synthogel that filled them having turned fully solid. As the last one fell, the store grew silent.

"Well…" Cutter scratched his head. "_That_ was anticlimactic."

"Fine by me." Kim wrapped her arms around Ron who met her embrace. "_So_ not the drama."

"Yeah." Shego sighed, still collapsed in exhaustion. But then a devilish smile spread across her face. "Time for a cliffhanger."

Faster then Kim could have anticipated from a fatigued woman, her leg swept out and took Cutter to the floor with a surprised yelp. One hand shot out to grip his neck.

"Don't move or I blow your head clean off." She snarled at the supine man.

"Shego!" Kim cried out, pulling away from Ron. The woman had been faking how fatigued she really was!

Her free hand padded through Cutter's pockets, searching for something. "Damnit, where is it?" She hissed.

"Looking for this?" Cutter held out his hand. There, pincered between to fingers, was a shiny silver bolt.

"Give me that!" Shego snapped, and reached for the object, just out of reach.

"No, Chris!" Kim implored. "Don't give it to her. Give it to me. We'll make sure Drakken doesn't get it."

"Yeah," Ron piped up. "Who knows what evil stuff he'll, um, bolt together with that!"

Cutter's silver eyes glanced at Kim, then to Ron where they lingered. Kim couldn't be sure what the two boys exchanged in that look. Then Cutter's gaze shifted to Shego. He stared at her, and she stared right back, nothing but pure defiance in her emerald eyes.

"If you want it, sweetpea," he said softly, "then it's yours." His hand drifted towards her. "I never came here for it in the first place."

Shego's face shifted into confusion. "Then… why _did_ you…" She glanced up at the two teens, as if suddenly remembering where she was. Her face hardened instantly. "Then… give it to me you loser!" She snatched at the bolt.

"No, Shego!" Kim poised herself for another fight. "Don't do this now!"

"Sorry, pumpkin." The green woman backed away. "I still have a job to do. Business, you know."

"I don't want to fight you, Shego." Kim pleaded. "I know you're near exhaustion. You can't get away. Please… just give it to me."

"Aw, Kimmie." Shego smiled warmly. "You know how this works. We're on two different sides of the same coin. Besides…" She produced a small plastic box, seemingly from thin air. On it, a small red light blinked slowly.

High above them, the ceiling exploded.

Kim grabbed Ron and threw him to the ground as debris showered down over them. The dust quickly settled and Kim lifted her head. Rising into the air, Shego rode an extended rope ladder. She could see the manned hovercraft that had been parked on the roof, reeling her in.

Shego smiled and waved. "… I _always_ have an escape plan!" Through the hole she disappeared, into the sky.

Kim stood up and watched, a resigned look on her face. Ron stumble up next to her.

"Well. I gotta admit, she pulled that off like clockwork." He brushed the dust from his hair.

"Yeah." Kim sighed. "She's the best there is."

"Second best." Ron put a hand on her shoulder. "I happen to know someone even better."

She managed to smile at him. Right now she wasn't feeling like the best. Then she frowned again and looked around.

"And Cutter's gone too." She tsked.

"Really?" Ron spun around. "Aw, _man_! I really wanted to nail that guy!"

"Don't worry." A determined expression sat on her face. "I have a feeling you'll get another chance before this is over." She raised her Kimmunicator and called up Wade. The young genius popped up instantly.

"Whats up?" Came the reply.

"Wade, we're gonna need a ride to the Caribbean, as soon as possible." Kim detailed, even as she began to hear the police and fire crews filtering into the building, barking orders and assessing damages.

Wade smiled. "Paying Drakken a visit?"

"I've had enough of this dancing around." Her eyes narrowed. "It's time we take this right to the source."

"Aw, yeah!" Ron punched his fist into the air. "Time for some major butt-whup in D-Town!"

"And this time," Kim promised, "we're going prepared."

-

* * *

The Bolt Bin was swarming with police and rescue personnel. No one was sure whether the massive amount of property damage was the result of a gas leak, a robbery or a terrorist attack. In essence, they were trying to cover all the bases until the nature of the emergency was successfully identified. 

Through the maze of corridors and tipped shelves men and women scurried. Some with hoses, some with firearms, some with first aid kits and some with notepads and pencils. Everything was being meticulously recorded, for police records and insurance adjustments as well as future criminal court cases, if it ever got that far.

In one such corridor, a huge mess was found. Most of the shelving units had been knocked right over and large holes had been torn straight through the ones that were still standing. A large array of burn makes were documented around the area, most of it seemed to emanate from one specific location. The very location from which Shego had stood when she first faced off against the Synthodrones.

Unknown to the men and women who shifted through the mess, one small piece of the puzzle was missing. But even if they had found it, it would have only arisen more questions. Luckily for them, it had already been picked up by a certain someone on his way out of the building.

And as Chris Cutter sat himself on his black motorcycle, his hastily retrieved helmet fitted on his dark head, his bare feet fitting into the foot pedals uncomfortably, he regarded that small piece that he held in his hand, rolling its smooth surface between his fingers. Feeling the coolness of the metal. Watching the way the sunlight glinted off its shiny surface. Thinking about why he even bothered to pick it up again.

And Chris Cutter sighed inside his helmet and shook his head for what seemed like the hundredth time. He pocketed the metal lump and started his bike, knowing without a doubt where his next destination would be.

"I must be completely insane." He grumbled, and then peeled out of the alleyway.

-

* * *

-

_Time for the Finale ladies and gents! It's gonna be nuts! I'll leave it for you to decide whether it's nuts in a good or bad way. I'm hoping good. But I'll settle for __totally sweet. Don't forget to R & R if you want more… or… less. I dunno._


	7. Part Seven: Everything and Anything

Release Notes:

Heheh. So you may have noticed I started a separate KIGO story. I think it's hilarious that I got, like, 10 reviews within the couple hours of posting it versus 5 reviews within the couple months I've been writing this one. Just goes to show you who makes up the vast majority of the fanbase.

Well, sucko for them… I'm not going to finish that story until I'm done this one. Which may NEVER freakin' happen, the way I keep going on. Damnit! I was supposed to be done three chapters ago! I'm not going to say that there is only one more left… because I've been saying that forever. But I'm HOPING that there will be only one more. And most likely shorter then this one, too.

Plus! Countdown to series finale, anyone? I'm psyched. I just hope it at least meets my expectations. I read rumors that Drakken and Shego may make an appearance in it. I don't know if I trust them, unless the series creators said so (I am always endlessly amused by fan speculations, since no one else seems to notice how retarded they always get).

Anyways. Enjoy this one. Hopefully it doesn't turn you all off by how bizarre it gets. Honestly, though, I had planned it like this since the beginning, so take it or leave it.

You know, in case you give a crap. I know _I_ don't.

The Author

* * *

**Part Seven: Everything and Anything**

The sea passed underneath her like a sparkling curtain as the mid afternoon sun rolled off its swelling surface. Through the porthole, Shego stared right through her own reflection at the ephemeral sight, her head resting against the glass.

Another slight jerk as the hovercraft dipped through an air current. The hired goon who was piloting the rig was alright. Shego knew she could do better. There was no better pilot then herself. But she had elected to remain a passenger on the thousand mile trip for reasons of fatigue. Plus she simply didn't feel like it.

The silver bolt rolled between her fingers, almost forgotten. Whenever Shego did think about the single item she held in her hand, the one that she had been sent to retrieve, the one that an entire platoon of henchmen and synthetic soldiers had been sent to back her up on, the one that she almost got killed over by her own damned robot goons, she grew angry. Very very angry. Shego was too tired to be angry.

A squad of henchmen in red jumpsuits sat quietly around her. Sometimes they would shift about, uncomfortably, but that was the extent of the noise they made. They were afraid. There was no other word for it. After months of working under the short-tempered woman they had come to a careful understanding of her many moods. Typically, the threat of pain was all they had to be concerned about when she was upset. But right at that moment, they had no idea what she was feeling. And as a result, they had no idea what she would do if provoked.

They needn't have bothered. Shego was drained in more ways then one. At that moment, she probably couldn't even incapacitate two thirds of the ten thugs surrounding her. Well, maybe she could. But it would be a chore.

She closed her eyes and let the constant drum of the troop carrier lull her to sleep. She needed sleep, more then anything. Sleep to recharge her power, sleep to recharge her brain. And maybe if she was unconscious she wouldn't have to deal with the rampage of emotions that threatened her sanity. Sanity that had nearly been burned away long ago by a multi-coloured comet.

Yes, unconsciousness sounded great. The best escape she had from the truth of her existence. A walking instrument of destruction. A weapon wielded by chaos. A cosmic scapegoat, forced into a life of continuous conflict. The closest person she had to a friend in a long time was her arch nemesis. How was that for screwed up? Friendship was a luxury Shego was not privileged to have. There were a great many things that she could never have. But she had accepted those facts of life. Accepted what she had been made to be. A villain's tool.

As she drifted away, thoughts of strange silver eyes came unbidden. They seemed to haunt her, but she could not say why.

Sleep came then. Blissful, dreamless, sleep.

-

* * *

The night sky was briefly illuminated with the brilliant flash of lightning, serving to perfectly backlight the sharpened silhouette of parapets and other imposing battlements. The sonic roar echoed across the hard lines of that rocky Caribbean island, further enhancing the ominous overtone of the place. Then back into inky darkness where the only clue that the castle was even there were the pinpricks of light that shone through several dozen barred windows. 

There were a great many terrible things that went on within that towering fortress. Things so awful that they were best left unspoken. For lo, this was the lair of the infamous Dr Drakken. A name that was spoken in whispers among the villain community.

Though honestly, they were usually _snickering_ whispers. Like a barely concealed chuckle or even a chortle. Drakken was sort of a "puchline" to the greater criminal society. One of the most consistently foiled megalomaniacs in the business. "Sounds like a Drakken" was a commonly used expression referring to an overly bizarre plot for world domination.

That being said, Drakken was easily one of the most active evil geniuses at large. What he lacked in quality he typically made up for in quantity. Few other villains could boast a number of actual bids for global conquest that rivaled Drakken's, and as a result, few had come as close as many times as he.

But Drakken was never deterred. In that sense, he outshone many of his counterparts. He had a surreal tenacity that denied his buffoonish image. Where most would have given up long ago, Drakken pressed on with renewed aspiration. And all things considered, Drakken was still rather dangerous (if comically eccentric). He was still an evil genius after all.

Which is why more then a few people should have been concerned with his latest project. Deep inside his secret lair, where the halls where dark and cavernous, one cave-like room housed the workplace of the evil genius. There, the madman himself stood wringing his gloved hands and giggling wickedly. Sitting upon his worktable in all its majesty, was Drakken's latest devious doomsday device.

_The Reverse Engineering Ray_.

Long and sleek, it had a number of high-voltage wires running along its length, protected by rigid conduits. The bulk of the weapon was round and heavy. In fact, it was impossible for any normal person to lift. Drakken figured he would need to build a tripod for the damned thing.

No matter, he thought, and instead turned his attention to the gleaming prize that was set next to the device. The silver adjustment bolt. The missing piece to bring this diabolical puzzle together. Well… one of them.

A nameless henchman had brought it to the lab earlier in the afternoon when their hovercraft came in. Drakken would have taken it and installed it right then and there, but he had been snoring on the floor at that time. The mad scientist kept odd hours. But upon his wakening, and finally noticing its presence, he had immediately snatched up the long-awaited part with glee. He had just finished his happy dance not ten minutes ago. Then he had gone to take a pee.

"And _now_!" Drakken proclaimed loudly to the empty room. He reached forward and grabbed the fastener. "I will install the silver adjustment bolt into my _Reverse Engineering Ray_!"

He carefully approached the device. His hand, the bolt pinchered between its fingers, reached towards it. Drakken held his breath. The clock on the wall ticked… twice.

And then he screwed the bolt into a hole on the side.

"There!" A bright grin split his blue face and he stood back to admire his work. "Only one last part is needed to bring my Ray online!" Drakken frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. And of course it hasn't been delivered yet. "Hrrrr… that's what I get for dealing with online auctions!" He spun around and shouted towards the lab entrance. "_Shego_!"

There was no answer.

"_Arrgh_! Shego! _Someone_! Get in here!"

A moment passed and then a nameless henchman in a red jumpsuit scampered through the doorway.

"Sir!" The henchman stood at attention.

"Where is Shego?!" Drakken yelled at the man. It was just like that woman to go and wander off, now that she was finally back from the mission he had sent her on.

"Uh…" The henchman hesitated. "She's sleeping, sir."

"Sleeping?" Drakken's face contorted in disbelief. "I'm on the eve of my greatest achievement and my sidekick is _sleeping_?!"

The henchman shuffled nervously. "She said that she was too tired to come and kill you when she got in. Maybe she would do it after some shut eye."

Drakken jerked back at that. _Kill him_? Uh oh… the green, super-powered woman was obviously upset with him over something. What the heck did he do?

"Err... in that case…" Drakken quickly backtracked. "We'd best let her get her beauty sleep. Maybe it will improve her mood."

The henchman relaxed visibly, obviously glad that he wouldn't have to go and wake the slumbering powerhouse. He turned and left at Drakken's dismissive wave. The blue-skinned man wandered back to his doomsday weapon. A narrow slot ran along the top of it where a plastic wafer of high-technology was intended to go: the Quantum Matrix Amplifier. The final piece.

"Ohh…" Drakken shook his clenched fists in frustration. "So _close_!" He needed that amplifier.

The megalomaniac sighed. World domination would have to wait a couple more hours. He turned his attention, instead, to the act of constructing a portable firing tripod for the R.E.R.

-

* * *

The water was warm and salty. It _was_ the Caribbean after all. 

Ebb and flow, the dark waves broke upon the vicious shoreline. Sheer cliffs and sloshing clefts circled the majority of the land mass. Jagged stones split the dark water between their thrusting peaks. A sight that inspired both trepidation and pseudo-sexual metaphors.

There were very few places around the deadly island that were accessible by sea. Some were large enough to be fortified by automated defense measures. Others were booby-trapped with cleverly hidden apparatus. All in all, the isle was virtually impenetrable by conventional means.

Or, at least except for the front door.

In the slightly calmer waters of a darkened cove, a nearly indecipherable churning broke the surface. Out of that bubbling rose a shadowed form, clothed in a clingy wetsuit. The scuba-masked face swiveled one direction and then the other, scanning the immediate shoreline. It was empty.

The figure suddenly lurched, as though something had struck it from behind. The masked head spun around to watch as another scuba diver rise up immediately behind. The second diver pulled the mask from his freckled face.

"Sorry, KP." Ron Stoppable gasped as ran his fingers across the mask window. "My mask got all fogged up."

Kim Possible lifted her own mask to give the blonde teen a shrewd look. "Uh huh. I'm sure you weren't just trying to grope me."

Ron felt his face turning beat red. "No-no-no-no, Kim…I would never…"

Kim silenced him with a finger on his lips. She smiled silkily. "No. I know you wouldn't. Let's just focus, shall we?" She turned and started wading out of the water, shrugging the airtight bag she carried over her shoulder.

Easy for you, Ron thought as he watched his girlfriend from behind. The tight form-fitting scuba outfit left little to the imagination and he found himself staring at the delicious curves of her body, almost indecipherable in the dark but for the glistening highlights of beaded water. Ron shut his eyes tight and shook his head violently, trying to force those thoughts out of his mind. He couldn't think that way about Kim… could he? I guess he was allowed to, now that they were a couple. He had always tried to turn a blind eye to the… development, of his best friend through the years, as hard as it was. But now they had been dating for months, and Ron was noticing that he was slipping more and more. He tried to hide it, but he wondered if it was obvious to her.

Ron looked down at his own scuba-clad body. Slight shoulders, skinny arms, a bit of a ponch. He was hardly the specimen of human conditioning that Kim was. What did she see in him? He couldn't imagine the crime-fighting cheerleader fawning over his 'hot bod'. Sure, they were friends and partners. But they were hardly equals. Ron felt like an alley cat dating a leopardess.

Dripping with seawater, the duo stepped onto the beach and dropped their respective bags on the sand. It had been a long plane ride from Middleton to the Cayman Islands. From there, they had to hitch a ride on a local scuba cruise. It took some fancy talking to convince the captain to sail his vessel so far off course, and to drop them off seemingly in the middle of no where. But the legendary exploits of Kim Possible were well known to the people of the Isles, since she often passed through the area on her way to Drakken's supposedly secret lair. In actual fact, the location of the lair was pretty much common knowledge in the region. Drakken had materials shipped out constantly, part in parcel of running an off-shore base of operations.

Which was why this particular cove had a well-worn trail snaking into the jungle and up to the fortress itself. During the day, any number of supplies could be trucked to the front gate. It made sense that it wasn't mined or booby trapped, though it came under electronic surveillance closer to the base.

Kim, of course, knew all this. She and Ron had been through this song and dance a dozen times before. Ron often wondered why Drakken never upgraded, or at least changed his security. Maybe it was because he thought the remote island was sufficient hindrance in itself. Maybe he welcomed the intrusions of Team Impossible, preferring to face them on his own terms and his own ground. Maybe he was just too cheap.

Kim's arm lifted and she tapped some buttons on the waterproof wrist-bound Kimmunicator. Ron heard it chirp and knew that she was scanning the immediate area for infrared signatures.

Ron quickly unzipped his watertight bag and carefully lifted a specially-constructed hamster ball with its own independent air supply. He popped it open with a hiss and Rufus the naked mole rat popped out with a happy squeal.

"Glad to have you with us on this, buddy." Ron smiled. "We missed you today."

Lightning cracked the sky and Ron heard Rufus yelp in fear only to dive back into the bag. He saw across the beach in the flickering light for a brief instant before it once again plunged into semi-darkness. The dull roar of thunder rolled overhead.

"All clear." Kim spoke. She lowered her wrist and looked back at Ron. He nodded and pulled two flashlights from his water bag. He tossed one to the redhead who caught it easily. She didn't turn it on.

"Wait until we change." She instructed, and then immediately set to removing the scuba suit.

Ron swallowed a particularly large lump in his throat. He turned away and started doing the same. He knew that she was hardly naked under the wetsuit; she was wearing underwear, same as him. But still, there was something inherently erotic about both of them undressing right next to each other. Ron couldn't bring himself to face her. Not like this. With awful self-consciousness, the young man dressed himself in his mission clothes as quickly as he could, glad that the darkness offered some cover of his less-then-perfect body. In record time, he tied his utility belt around his waste. Not realizing how much faster he had finished, he turned back to his partner just as another flash of lightning lit the night.

Ron saw her clad only in bra and panties, halfway in the process of pulling her form-fitting pants up her athletic legs. Her wet red hair hung down in dark rivulets across her shoulders and chest. Her skin was perfect in the light; almost ethereal in how it seemed to glow. Every inch of her was beautiful. The sight lasted less then a second before the lightning passed, but the image was forever etched in detail into Ron's memory.

Slackjawed, he quickly turned away again, blinking as though he had stared at the sun. But like a burning after-image, she was still there, making a mockery of angels. Ron felt as though he was going to have a heart attack.

"Alright," a light clicked on a few moments later. "Let's go."

Ron managed to turn back to Kim, who watched him carefully. She was dressed.

"You ok?"

"Yeah… yeah." He flicked his own flashlight on, avoiding her green eyes. "Good to go."

She gave him an unconvinced look, but didn't press the issue. God she was perfect. How could Ron ever expect to live up to her?

The two teens stashed their wetsuits and scuba gear near the beach. Into the dark jungle they went, shadowing the dirt trail. It was time to focus on the mission.

-

* * *

"Yeah, I'll usually listen to Eminem when I work out," said the red suited henchmen whose name was Billy. "It kinda gets me in a badass ghetto kinda mood, and I swear I can bench, like, thirty pounds more." 

"So, fifty pounds then?" The red suited henchman, whose name was Sam, scoffed at his seated companion and took another drag on his cigarette.

"Hey, man! Shut up!" Billy whined.

Lightning snaked across the sky in the distance, illuminating the rocky jungle that stretched down to the coast. From their vantage point at the foot of the massive metal door at the base of the towering fortress, the three men guarding the entrance could see the dirt trail snaking down through the jungle to the cove.

"That was a nice one." The third henchmen, named John leaned against the door, watching the sky.

"Yeah, and I bet it's going to rain soon, too." Sam spat on the ground. "Frigging bullshit."

"I mostly listen to Aerosmith while, like, washing the hovercrafts in the bay." Billy continued. "Cause, you know… that's the kind of think you listen to when you go cruising for chicks."

"I can't believe they put us out _here_." Sam ignored him, waving his cigarette around as he spoke. "Like it's _our_ fault that biker got through the door. You all saw what he did? That big freakin' bruiser."

"And then I'll play some Barry White while I buff them, cause that's the same kinda TLC you gotta give a lady, you know?"

"He was lucky he caught me by surprise, I'll tell you." Another drag. "If I ever see that biker again, I'll kick his leather ass. Mop the floor with his greasy mullet."

Another burst of light from the sky.

"That one was a lot closer." John spoke.

"But try telling that to the _witch_!" Sam spat the word. "Nah, she don't give a crap. Puts us on night watch while everyone else gets to relax inside. The dyke's probably in her room painting her nails right now. _Bullshit_!" He flicked his spent cigarette into the darkness, beyond the edge of light cast by the front gate lamp.

"Sometimes I listen to Sarah McLachlan just before falling asleep on my cot. It gives me nice dreams."

"I swear, next time I see that woman I am going to put her in her place. You just watch. I'll backhand her right in front of everyone. That's what she needs."

Another lightning flash briefly illuminated the island.

"Hm." John stared into the sky.

"What?" Billy looked up at the leaning henchman.

"Up there." John inclined his head. "I thought I saw… a plane or something."

"Phff..." Sam snorted, digging another cigarette out of his jumpsuit pocket. "No one'd fly a plane out here during a thunderstorm. That's bullshit."

"Yeah." Billy piped up. "No one's scheduled to come in tonight. All the machines are grounded."

"Shut up, kid." Sam lit his cancer stick.

"Hm." John mumbled noncommittally and continued watching the sky. None of the three henchmen had heard the telltale pop of a fired grapple, nor did they see the two shadows scaling up the wall to the right of the entrance.

-

* * *

Wind. 

Loudly whipping around him as he fell from the sky. In the darkness he couldn't quite see where he was going to land, and the thought was terrifying.

And the terror made him stronger.

A sudden flash and the island was lit beneath him. Close. So very close. He could almost make out individual palm leaves.

Darkness again and his eyes fought to adjust. He could see in the dark, but not between the blinding bursts of lightning. He was blind again.

Now.

His hand grabbed at the cord near his shoulder and pulled viciously. The parachute unfolded behind him. He could hear it. Every fold and crevice snapped tight. He fought the surging panic. Was it opening? Was it opening in time? He was much too close to the ground. He had no time to react.

A terrible jerk pulled him upright as the chute caught some air. He felt his insides lurching at the sudden deceleration.

Fifteen seconds later, he smashed into the trees.

Leaves and branches assaulted him, slapping his face and colliding with his limbs. He felt himself twist and bend at painful angles, though he fought to protect his back from impact by taking solid impacts on his chest. Then he stopped falling and instead swung from side to side, the parachute caught in the jungle canopy. As if a final insult, he clipped a tree trunk as he swung.

A low growl escaped his lips.

Chris Cutter's sliver eyes swiveled about. He could see everything, naturally. Pain always brought the bestial elements forward. He felt the strength rising in his body and the dull aches of the fall were already receding. He wanted to tear at the Kevlar straps that held him hostage. At least he hadn't blacked out. Once he blacked out, there was no telling what would happen.

God, he hated skydiving.

Cutter took a deep, calming breath. He reached up to carefully unclip the harness. Not because he planned on salvaging it, but because the act of unstrapping was more human then tearing it off.

He dropped out of the harness and fell five feet before he casually reached out to grip on to the tree trunk. There he hung, suspended by his fingers and the tiny claws that protruded from them. With his other hand, he fought with the laces on his boots. He pulled them off, one at a time and let them drop to the jungle floor. He had known from the beginning that they would be tossed and were very inexpensive, unlike the parachute and harness he had just trashed. Or the cost of hiring a smuggler plane to drop him off during the oncoming thunderstorm. Cutter sighed. This was turning into a very expensive trip.

Now that his clawed toes were free to grip along with his hands, Cutter skipped along the trunk like a spider. He swung and dropped onto an over-hanging branch and crouched motionless with inhuman balance. He reached behind him to grip at the solid package that had been strapped to the small of his back. Carefully, he removed the package and began unwrapping the many shock-absorbing layers, seeking to make sure the fragile object at its center was undamaged from the fall. The final static-free wrapping was peeled back to show the silicone board in one piece. Cutter breathed a little easier.

He gently re-packaged the item and fit it back along his spine. He figured that he would break just over even if he could deliver this part in once piece. But that was only half of the battle. Other motives drove him to this island this night to risk much with very little gain, at least monetary gain. A dozen times already he had talked himself out of this, only to find himself staring at a small metal stone he kept in his pocket. Then he would take another dozen steps toward the cliff.

Cutter didn't bother taking the shiny lump of metal out of his pocket now. He had gone too far to even consider running. His only way out was to go forward. He had to prove something. To himself more then anyone.

Cutter raised his head and tested the air. He listened. His senses were acute. He understood instantly the direction he needed to go. Around him, the sounds of tropical birds continued, even in the night. He felt at ease out here, as though he belonged. There was the tugging desire to prowl aimlessly. To stake out a territory.

That scared him more then anything.

He moved. A shadow in the dark, visible only in brief instances that the lightning broke the canopy. He was silent and swift across the jungle, crossing tree to tree without ever touching the ground. The birds would grow briefly hushed as he passed, sensing his presence. They knew that he was a predator.

-

* * *

The castle, for there was no other way to describe the sprawling fortress, was like a maze to the unwary. A labyrinth where unknown doom could lurk around every corner. After all, this was the lair of Dr Drakken. Who knew what secret horrors he was cooking up in those darkened halls? 

But Kim had been there before.

In truth, most of the fortress went unused. It was simply too big. Most of what _was_ used was storage. Rooms and rooms of storage. Any number of failed or never completed plans for world conquest could be found stacked all around the base of the castle. As Kim and Ron made there way through the first few levels, they found themselves reminiscing about past plots foiled.

"I can't believe he has so much of that shampoo left over." The cheerleader shook her head. "It must have cost a fortune to have it all made, and now it just sits here in these crates."

"Oh!" Ron pointed. "Is that the Vortex Inducer?"

"What's left of it." Kim winced. "Ugh. Is that cloning solution?"

"I'd rather not look." Ron shuddered and gave her a wily smile. "Who knows what pieces of Bonnie might be floating around in there."

"_Ick, ick, ick_!" Kim lifted her shoulders and shook her hands fervidly. "_So_ gross."

"Maybe we'd find some souvenirs." He gave her a crooked smile.

"_Eww_!" She smiled disgustedly at the blonde boy and punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Stop it!" He grinned and kept walking. He was so funny. He could always maker her laugh at anything. Kim watched him with a pleasant smile. He really was a great guy, and simply adorable. For the briefest moment, she forgot about the mission and wrapped her arm around his and they walked hand in hand, as if on a casual stroll through the park.

"You know, Ron." Her voice echoed in the quiet hallways. "What you did… this morning. The picnic, I mean. That was really nice."

She felt him shrug next to her. "Whateves, KP. Just being a boyfriend, I guess."

"No, Ron." She looked at him. "Not everyone would do something like that for me. It was really sweet. And… I liked it a lot."

Ron gave her a puzzled look. "What do you mean? _Anyone_ would do that for you. Heck, they'd do _better_. You're _Kim Possible_."

"Don't depreciate it, Ron." Kim gave him a sour look. "Don't you dare."

"Ok, ok!" Ron relented. He sighed under her steady gaze. "I just… wanted to do something… romantic for once. Like, _really_ romantic. Sometimes…" he hesitated, "sometimes I just don't feel like a boyfriend. You know? And I don't… I just don't deserve you, or something."

Kim stopped them and whirled on the hunched young man, who tried to avoid her eyes. "Ron." She spoke forcefully. "_I _decide who deserves me, alright? No one else. And I am not _so_ _damned_ perfect, you know."

"_No_." Ron reached up to gently cup her face in his hands, stilling her tongue. "You _are_. You _are_ perfect. Perfect in every way that matters." She stared into his sad brown eyes, and his expression was enough to break her heart. "And I'm just the buffoon who makes a joke now and again and looses his pants."

"You're my partner…" she began.

"You almost got killed trying to save me today!" Ron cut her off. "And don't you deny it!" She fell silent. Ron pulled back and gave her a serious look. It almost didn't look right on his normally jovial face. "I'm more of a hindrance then anything, Kim. How can you save the world when you spend half the time saving your stupid boyfriend?"

Kim had no argument. She had leapt into danger to save Ron without a moment's forethought and had nearly died because of it if not for the intervention of Shego (of all things); something that had never happened before. Was their relationship clouding her judgment? Were these bashful emotions distracting her from the mission? Did she even care?

Before she could formulate a response, the echoing sound of marching feet played along her perception. Both she and Ron turned to stare down the hallway from which the steadily growing noise was coming. A patrol of henchmen, perhaps?

"Great." She mumbled. "Perfect timing."

"The mission, Kim." She turned back to Ron who locked stern gazes with her. "Don't get distracted from the mission."

"You're a part of that mission, Ron." She responded in kind. "Now come on, we got to keep moving."

-

* * *

Drakken knew she was in the building. 

Of course she was. It was so damned typical of the teenaged crime fighter to come barging in at the most inconvenient times.

Drakken stepped back from the massive computer terminal with a scowl. He knew it had been a good idea to install some more security cameras in the basement. Half the time, that was the route the cheerleader took to sneak into the fortress. Sometimes he wondered if having such a large, sprawling base of operations was worth the trouble. Sure, it looked cool and it was great for entertaining guests, but the snaking caves and passageways throughout the rocky island resulted in a huge amount of security breaches.

Maybe more cameras was the answer.

"So… Kim Possible!" Drakken snarled at the frozen image on the screen, a magnified still frame of the two teens after they passed by one of his hidden cameras unnoticed. "You've come to stop me? Fine! I was expecting you!" He reached forward and tapped out a series of specific keystrokes, sending a silent signal down into the depths of the lair. "Lets get this party started!" He brought his fist down on a separate, large, red button.

The base erupted in alarms.

Drakken grabbed the mounted microphone rising out of the console and shouted into it.

"Security breach! All henchmen on high alert! Get me Kim Possible!" He stood straight with satisfaction at how commanding he had sounded.

It took Drakken a few moments to realize that he hadn't pushed the broadcast button. Sheepishly, he repeated the announcement, sounding much less imposing the second time.

-

* * *

Ron and Kim had just whirled around a corner when the alarm sounded. Red lights flashed along the concrete walls and a distorted siren pumped from a hanging speaker grill. 

The two came to a skidding halt. They looked at one another.

"Ok…" Ron raised his hands. "I did _not_ step on anything, I swear."

"Doesn't matter." Kim spun around as the sound of approaching henchmen suddenly grew louder and faster. "We've been spotted. We gotta get up to the control room. Drakken's got to be there with whatever he's building."

"I just hope he's _still_ building it." Ron groaned. The two broke into a full on run.

-

* * *

An annoying droning noise. 

Cotton balls seemed to clog her mind as she broke the surface. For an instant, she was back in Go City, in her ratty little bed, waking to the sound of her cheap old alarm clock. Time to get to class. Can't be late. Even though she stayed up all night, living her second life, she couldn't give up on this one. It was as close as she had ever been to living normally. She couldn't lose it now.

The droning noise continued, causing her confusion. That wasn't how her alarm clock had sounded.

And then, the annoying droning was interrupted by the annoying voice of Drakken, broadcasted from outside her room and all the pieces fell back into place.

"_Ugh... is this thing…Security Breach! Everyone get their heads in the game! I want Kim Possible… here… um, preferably captured! That is all!"_

Shego opened her emerald eyed. She was lying, sprawled out across her green and black bed clad only in her underwear. She had barely managed to get her catsuit off before collapsing from exhaustion earlier in the afternoon. She focused on her bedside clock. 11:40 pm. Night had descended.

She rolled over and covered her head with her pillow, trying to muffle the insistent alarm. She wished she could find the desire to give a crap that Kimmie was assaulting the base. But honestly, she didn't care to face the young woman so soon after their uncomfortable parting, earlier that day. But she wasn't about to let her nemesis win so easily. Kim deserved more from her.

The other, unspoken knowledge that lifted Shego from her bed was that she was the only one who could keep Kim alive if Drakken, by some miracle, managed to get the drop on her. Beat her, yes. Embarrass her, sure. Prove that she was the better of the two, absolutely. But Shego could not see her arch nemesis dead. Not the only woman she had ever met that was as much the warrior that she was.

Shego refused to acknowledge the hidden thought. It would never come to that.

Shego stood before her wardrobe. She picked out her uniform numbly. A warrior? Yeah right. She was a hired goon. A villain's tool.

A super-powered monster.

-

* * *

He froze so suddenly, anyone watching might have forgotten that he was even moving to begin with. 

The siren split the night. He was very close to the fortress walls. His claws dug deep into the tree bark to the meat itself, holding him solidly in place. Twenty feet up, he hung easily, denying gravity.

Below him and to his left, he heard the three men outside the giant metal doorway. They smelt… familiar.

"Great!" The loudest one sounded as though he was stomping around. "Just friggin' great! Now we got a _breach_! Bullshit!"

"What'er we gonna do?" The second man almost squeaked. He wasn't moving around nearly as much as the first, though he seemed to be shifting from foot to foot, anxiously. He smelt scared. Cutter licked his lips. "I mean, we gotta go mobilize against the threat, right? _Right_?"

"We sit right here." The third man spoke calmly. The other two grew silent. "We were told to guard the front door, right? So we stay out here and guard the front door. Nobody's come and given us orders otherwise."

"Yeah." The loud one said. "Fuckin' _yeah_! We ain't goin' in there to fight God-knows-what. _Screw_ 'em! We're staying out here."

"Well…" The scared one whimpered. "I guess if we're just following orders…"

"Shutup, kid."

Cutter smirked at the bizarre group dynamic. So there was a 'breach' in the base, huh? Could Drakken have spotted him? Did he have instruments that sensitive in the jungle? Somehow, Cutter doubted it. And as he considered the possibilities, he got the sinking feeling that he knew the identities of the other trespassers. He was not looking forward to his third meeting with team Possible.

Even had the siren not been blaring, the three men guarding the doorway probably still wouldn't have heard the barest noise that was made as Cutter leapt onto the sheer granite wall. As it was, they had no idea as the dark man with his silver eyes, glinting in the lamplight, crawled along the vertical surface passing not ten feet above their heads. Cutter, however, heard the loud one clearly as he ducked into a wandering cleft and scattered raindrops began to fall.

"Aww… _bullshit_!"

-

* * *

Deep down in the fortress, closer to the heart of the mountain, a series of massive geothermal powerplants rumbled relentlessly on. They supplied endless, self-sustained, power to the whole of the island complex and the high-tech, high-drain machines that Drakken used for his apocalyptic schemes. Surprisingly efficient, they rarely broke down nor required major maintenance. Not surprisingly, Drakken had stolen the technology early on in his career, back when he first started retrofitting the fortress from the abandoned military outpost that it once was. 

One of the many drains on the powerplants was a specially designed automated assembly line, also close to the heart of the mountain. It had been practically running non-stop since earlier in the afternoon when Drakken had sent a specific execute command through the castle's hardwired network. Not too long ago, it had finally filled its substantial quota and had since lain dormant. Mechanical arms hung motionless, massive vats of bubbling goo had stopped swirling and the rotating catwalk had halted in place.

But then, Drakken had sent down another command through the network. This one was wireless in nature and was directed at one hundred and fifty separately receiving CPUs, each one housed within its own silent, stationary container.

Almost at once, 150 sets of dull white orbs began to glow.

-

* * *

Wade Load took another look at the readings, his eyes narrowing in confusion. His other hand kept on typing on the keyboard, working on something else completely. He finished uploading the ftp files for his latest set of "bait" sites, trying to lure the WEE algorithm into another hit, and spun his chair fully to face the confounding data on another monitor. 

"That's… weird." He grimaced. The child genius hated being confounded by anything.

The young man skimmed through the rows of nearly indecipherable information that had been produced from one of the Kimmunicator's deep scans earlier in the day. One had been a reading on one of Drakken's new mutated Synthodrones, which were relatively simple enough to analyze. He had mapped out exactly how they worked and what their weaknesses were in a matter of minutes. The second batch of information, however, had taken longer for the computer to work through. A few hours as opposed to a few minutes. Still not too bad, considering it was breaking down the entire biological structure of the subject into analyzable data. There were fewer then five other sets of machines on the planet that could process raw information faster.

But now, as Wade read the information as easily as the computer screen printed it for him, he found himself shaking his head in increasing annoyance. These readings couldn't be right. The basic foundation of the genetic structure was wrong. Or at least… off kilter.

Wade leaned back in his chair and rubbed his eyes. It _was_ getting late. And he certainly wasn't a medical specialist, for all his genius. He turned and checked on the status of Team Possible through his constant satellite uplink, displayed on its own dedicated monitor. The Kimmunicator's sensors didn't suggest any immediate dangers, but that meant little in this business. The fact that Kim and Ron were inside the very walls of Drakken's lair didn't help dull his concern.

Wade turned back to the bizarre biological scan. He needed another opinion. A series of deft keystrokes and he was hacked into the Middleton Hospital mainframe. It took him a few minutes to find someone he trusted who was still working in the center. He smiled happily as he watched a familiar form through the security feed. A couple more taps of the keyboard and he was placing a call directly to the phone to that office.

He watched the female doctor on his screen reach for the phone. On his computer speakers, he heard the click as the receiver was lifted.

"Hello, Dr Possible here." Came the polite answer.

"Hi Mrs. Possible, it's Wade."

"Oh hello, Wade." He saw her smile in on the screen. "Nice to hear from you."

"Working late, I see."

The doctor's head raised to look at the security camera. She smiled crookedly. "I was just thinking of calling it a night. Why? Was Kimmie worried?"

"Oh no, she's… uh… on a mission."

"Oh, right. James mentioned that on the phone." She frowned. "Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. She's fine. Kicking butt as per usual."

"Good, good." Wade saw her relax slightly. He wondered how she dealt with that knowledge, day after day. She must be made of iron.

"Actually, I was calling to see if you could help me with something, related to the mission."

"Oh, sure. What do you need?"

"I need a second opinion on some bio-scans I took of a guy today. For some reason, they just don't make sense to me. Like, something's fundamentally wrong with them."

"Alright. You want to fax them…"

"Actually," Wade interrupted her with a smile. "They're already on you screen."

He watched her turn and look at the computer terminal on her desk, where he had already uploaded the data. She smirked up at the security camera.

"Ok, Wade. I'll see what I can make of them."

"Please and thank you. I'll check back in a while."

"Of course. Take care." She hung up the phone.

Wade leaned back from the screen and turned to look at another. He read through the information again.

"Cutter." He mumbled to no one. "What the heck _are_ you?"

-

* * *

Cutter squirmed through the air ducts with liquid ease. Even so, he grumbled and complained at every twist and corner. Once and a while he would come across a vent where he would stare down at the swarming henchmen, hustling around as they searched the base for the intruders. His theory on their identities had been verified several times over as he heard the red-suited men shout and talk amongst themselves. Team Possible was in the building. 

"Great." He growled for the tenth time. "Like I don't have enough to worry about."

Moving through the ducts would have been much easier if not for the stiff package on his back. Naturally, he hadn't thought to remove it before climbing into the narrow passageway, and now he couldn't reach it at all.

He paused as he came to a three-way intersection. He was relying heavily on scent and sound at this point, but even then he couldn't be positive which way would lead him to the control room. He sniffed the air carefully and took an educated guess.

He'd better get a hell of a tip for this.

-

* * *

Kim had realized they were being herded a few corridors back. 

At every intersection, they heard the approach of Drakken's henchmen, always coming from every direction except one. She had started noticing the hidden cameras soon afterwards, now that she knew to look for them. They were new, but shouldn't have been unexpected. How many times had they broken in through this route? She silently chided herself for being so predictable.

Ron gasped next to her, just barely keeping pace with her athletic stride. She was hardly breathing.

"Come on, Ron!" She grabbed his arm. "We're almost there! I know you can do this!"

"This…" he huffed, "this… is what… I was talking… about." He shook his head. "Just… dead weight…"

Kim ignored him and pulled him along.

Around another bend they entered a series of glass-windowed laboratories. As they continued running through, Kim saw all manner of strange experiments being performed behind those panes of glass. Some had the odd man in a white lab coat, notepad in hand. A few of them turned to watch her pass, a look of confusion and surprise on their faces.

"Just leave me." Ron tried to tug out of her grip. "Stop… stop letting me get in the way of saving the world."

"Shut up, Ron." She tightened her grip and pulled him even harder. He stumbled but kept up. Once past the corridor of windowed labs, she knew they were practically at the control room. "Once we're in we gotta split up. You and Rufus find the machine, whatever it is, and destroy it. I'll try to keep everyone else off you."

"'Kay." Ron gulped and narrowed his eyes in determination. She knew he would snap out of it once he had something useful to do. He would never let her down. "Rufus buddy, we're up!" The naked mole rat popped out of his pocket with a tiny war cry.

Into the massive cavern they burst, only to be halted in place by the maniacal laughter of Drakken himself.

"Ah! _Kim Possible_! And…um…" he waved his hand dismissively "…the buffoon who makes jokes and looses his pants." She knew without looking that Ron was scowling next to her. Drakken stood atop a raised platform that came right out of the floor itself. Beside him was some sort of typical death-ray-looking device, obviously whatever he had been building with those stolen parts. He smiled viciously at them. "So glad you could come. You're just in time…" he aimed the weapon at them, "_for you're doom_!"

She heard the henchmen coming up from behind, blocking the exit. Her eyes darted around the room, looking for an advantage. She saw several, but none of which would also save Ron from whatever crazy blast Drakken was cooking up. She refused to see that fact as a weakness in their partnership.

"Alright, Drakken." She switched tactics. "What's this all about?" She suppressed an amused smirk as the megalomaniac took the obvious bait, always eager to rant and rave.

"Ah, yes!" He stood straight and looked down on them. "I'm glad you asked! Feast you're eyes upon my most devious invention yet! _The Reverse Engineering Ray_! A doomsday weapon that will reverse engineer _anything_ backwards through its own evolution!" He ran a caressing hand across the machine's surface. "I needed many exotic pieces to build this device and despite you're meddling, _Kim__Possible_," he spat her name, "you failed to stop me from completing its construction! And unless the world bows before me, I will use it to blow civilization back to the Stone Age!" He raised his arms and roared maniacally.

Kim raised her wrist and the Kimmunicator that she had stealthily pressed a button on a few moments ago. "You get all that, Wade?"

"Yeah." The young genius' voice squawked over the tiny speaker. "Sounds pretty legit. He could definitely make something like that with the parts he stole."

"Any techno advice to shut it down?" Ron leaned over.

"Um… hit it with a hammer?"

Kim smiled, never taking her eyes off Drakken and the machine. "Thanks, Wade."

"_Hey_!" Drakken shouted. "Pay attention!"

"Oh…" Ron yawned loudly. "Sorry, dude. It's been a long day."

"Indeed." Drakken frowned at the duo. "So don't you move or I'll turn you… into…" Drakken fought a yawn of his own. "Damnit! Now you've got me yawning! _Why is that so contagious_?"

"You'll never get away with this!" Kim shouted the clichéd response to buy some more time. There had to be an opening somewhere.

"Oh… but I will!" He smiled. "Because the first trial run will be to reverse engineer Kim Possible into a primordial mudskipper!" He laughed again, shaking his fist in the air. But as he did so, another individual casually sauntered into the room. The green and black woman made her way over to the giant control panel and leaned against it nonchalantly, exchanging unimpressed looks with Kim before shrugging her shoulders and focusing on the ranting Drakken. Kim narrowed her eyes in suspicion. She had wondered where that woman was.

"Hey, Dr D!" Shego barked up at the raised platform, arms folded under her breasts. "You need me, or do you got Princess here under control?"

Drakken's laughter ceased abruptly. "Shego! About time you showed up! I had to subdue Kim Possible myself with the R.E.R.!"

"Oh…" Shego raised an amused eyebrow. "So you got that one part you were missing?"

Drakken's expression froze. He slowly turned to look at Team Possible. He gave them a sheepish smile and chuckled nervously.

"Now Ron!" Kim rolled to the side, already preparing to fend of the henchmen at their flank.

-

* * *

"Shego!" Drakken screamed down at her, even as the waiting henchmen barreled into the room. The green thief didn't flinch as she met his furious gaze. "Argh! You ruined my bluff!" 

Shego's gave him a cold, cold look. Drakken was the one who flinched.

"That's not all I'm going to ruin, you blue moron." She stepped towards the platform threateningly.

"Ah!" Drakken shrieked and hid behind his invention. "_What_? What did I do?"

"You sent me out there with twenty of your stupid Sythodrones! And then, halfway through the job they freakin' _mutated_ and freakin' _turned on me_!"

"What?" Drakken whined. "What are you talking about? They couldn't…" He was cut off as a man in a red jumpsuit went flying into the platform with a painful grunt. Both Shego and Drakken watched the figure slide to the floor, unconscious.

"Now is not the time, Shego!" Drakken cried out. "I need you to take down that teen!"

Shego snarled at him, causing him to cringe yet again. "We're not done with this!" She turned and stormed into the fray. A stumbling henchman got in her way. She sent him skidding across the floor in annoyance. The rest of them quickly stepped out of her path.

Kim was in the process of judo-flipping another of the nameless thugs, adding to the groaning pile around her. She quickly turned and faced her long-time foe upon noticing her approach. As they stared at one another, the henchmen regrouped behind the green woman.

"Hey." Shego greeted simply.

"Hey." Kim responded in kind. "How're you feeling?"

Shego shrugged. "Better. Got a nap in. Had a sandwich. Good to go."

"Yeah?" Kim smirked. "Nice to know you didn't loose any sleep over anything."

Shego rolled her eyes. "Don't start with me, princess. I'm still gonna kick your ass."

"You can try." Kim adjusted her stance.

Shego smiled despite herself. Her hands erupted in glowing green plasma. "I don't _try_ nothin'."

-

* * *

Ron scurried across the room, diving under a nearby workbench. A couple of the thugs clamored after him. Comically enough, they both tried to follow him under the table. 

The blonde teen squirmed between the legs, leaving the grumbling pair behind him. Just as he had hoped, they got themselves stuck in place under the heavy bench. Ron popped out the other end.

One more henchmen came running after him. They faced each other across the table. Around the bench the two opponents circled. Ron feinted one way and then the other. The large man across from him smiled grimly, missing several teeth. He looked a little familiar to the young man.

"I gots you know, _boy_!" The man grunted.

Ron smiled right back. "I think what you 'gots' is a headache."

The thug frowned, confused. Then a piece of heavy hanging equipment dropped unceremoniously on his head. He stood wobbly for a brief moment before collapsing to the floor. Ron smiled up at his little eye in the sky. "Nice one, Rufus!" Crawling along the catwalk above, the tiny pink rodent gave a significant whoop.

Ron dashed around some more equipment, trying to sneak up on Drakken's flank. He heard the tell-tale sounds of plasma exploding. Shego was in the fight.

He leaned around a tall, square-shaped machine. There was the mad scientist, next to the Reverse Engineering Ray. How was he going to get up on that platform? Ron sneaked out along the wall, trying to get close. Drakken kept staring forward, shaking his fists at the brawl in front of him. He tried not to think about Kim. She was better off then he was. He shuffled within eight feet of the platform without notice. Just a little bit more.

Then something clanged above him.

Ron raised his head, thinking that it might be Rufus up to something. What he saw, instead was a steel grate falling from the ceiling.

Ron froze in shock as the heavy object smashed into the floor in front of him, making an enormous racket. On the platform, Drakken jumped in surprise and spun around to face the source of the sudden noise. His eyes locked with Ron's.

"You! What's-his-face!" He pointed at the frozen teen. "What do you think you're doing?" Ron opened his mouth, about to deny the noise as his fault when someone called out from above.

"Special delivery!" Came the shout. Both Drakken and Ron looked up to see a figure dressed in black and grey come swinging out of the hole he had just kicked in the air duct. The man dropped the fifteen feet to the floor and landed easily on top of the steel grate, straightening to brush the dust off his shoulders. Ron's mouth was wide open.

"Cutter?" He asked in pure disbelief.

The dark-haired man turned his silver eyes on Ron with an almost apologetic wince. "Hello again, bud."

"Who the hell are you?" Drakken spat at the newcomer, obviously getting aggravated by everything.

"Me?" Cutter turned back to the blue-skinned man. "I'm here on behalf of scissorkid, whom you recently bought an item from, yes?"

Drakken squealed with surprised delight. "The Quantum Matrix Amplifier! You have it!" He danced around the platform with childlike glee. "Yes-yes-yes!" His dance halted just as suddenly and he whirled back on Cutter. "Give it to me!"

"Um… yeah." Cutter gave Drakken an odd look, reaching behind to pull at a package that was strapped to his back. "I've got it. There's just the small matter of payment that needs to be…"

"You ass!" Ron shouted at the bartering man. "You're just going to sell that maniac what he needs to take over the world?"

Cutter gave him an exasperated look. "Ron, not now. I'm trying to do business here."

"Business?!" Ron roared at the thief. "I'll give you business!" He swung at the dark man. Cutter simply stepped aside, easily dodging the attack.

"Payment?!" Drakken roared at the thief. "I'll give you payment!" He reached into his pocket and removed a strange-looking remote control device. He forcefully pressed a button.

All across the floor in the large room, circular holes popped open with a resounding _swish_. Strange red light glowed from those openings, serving to dramatically under-light the faceless burgundy and black figures that slowly rose into place. The glowing white orbs of the Synthodrones regarded them all coldly.

Ron stopped swinging at Cutter. His shoulders drooped as he groaned. "Not _again_…"

Beside him, he heard Cutter sigh.

"I hate when they do this."

-

* * *

Kim flipped sideways, avoiding yet another powerful swipe from Shego's glowing hands. As she became inverted on one hand, she kicked out into the face of a reaching henchman, sending him sprawling backwards. Landing back on her feet, she immediately blocked the green woman's next dizzying series of thrusts and jabs. 

Shego was doing much better then Kim had hoped. She was surprised how easily she had recovered from the near exhaustion she had suffered from earlier in the day. But then, Kim had to remind herself that Shego was a little bit more then just human. It didn't help that Kim herself was starting to feel the strain of such a physically demanding day. After all, _she_ was only human.

Shego reversed a jab and grabbed onto Kim's wrist. The cheerleader countered by driving forward and taking both of them to the floor. Grunting and panting, they rolled across the ground. A few more henchmen milled around the grappling foes, waiting for an opportunity but not wanting to get in between the two powerhouses.

"Damnit, girl." Shego snarled. "Get your elbow… out of my… _face_!"

"Just as soon as you get your…_knee_ out of my armpit!" Kim shouted right back.

And then a pair of arms lifted her into the air.

Kim looked down at Shego, sitting on the ground with a surprised look on her face. She tried to turn around to see her assailant, but the two unyielding hands held her arms tight at her sides. Though she could make an educated guess based on the disgusted look on Shego's face.

"Well… that sucks." She stood herself upright. "Lets hope _this_ batch doesn't go psychotic."

Kim's suspicions were verified as she was turned and carried towards Drakken. Synthodrones. Scattered all over the room. God, she _hated_ Synthodrones.

"I can only guess that since you're still in once piece," Shego walked up to her right, "that Drakken wants to keep you around long enough to zap with that ray of his."

"Shutup, Shego." Kim hissed and looked around for Ron. He had to be ok.

"Phff, don't worry, pumpkin." Shego waved her hand dismissively. "He hasn't even got the thing totally built yet. He still needs…" she trailed off as she realized who was standing off to the side of Drakken's platform, surrounded by more drones. "Oh, you have _got_ to be kidding me." Kim stared in surprise as well.

Drakken cackled at the dark haired Cutter, who looked at the surrounding drones indifferently. Ron was next to him, not sharing the same look.

"Give me the Amplifier or I will have them tear you apart!" The mad scientist shouted from his perch.

"No." Cutter gave him a distastefully look. "You give me the money, or I'll just break the damned thing."

"You break it and they will destroy you!" Drakken shrieked.

"And you'll still be short the piece you need." Cutter held the package in the air. "The _only_ piece of its kind in existence, I might add."

"Arrgh!" Drakken pulled his hair in frustration.

"Cutter!" Shego spat the name like a curse.

He turned and looked at Shego. Kim noticed him straighten a little. "Oh… um… hello, Sweetpea."

Shego's face twisted in rage. Kim was sure the woman was going to explode… literally. "What _the_ _fuck_ are you doing here?!"

Cutter winced at her words, but still managed to give her a stiff smile. "Just… ah… delivering a package to the Doctor. That's all. No reason to freak out."

"_That's the amplifier you stole from me_!"

"Wait!" Drakken's head snapped between the two thieves. "Stole from you? You said that _Possible_ kept you from getting the Amplifier!"

"Nope." Kim spoke up, taking the opportunity to play her foes against each other. "I wasn't even there. This guy; Chris Cutter, _he_ stole it. He beat Shego at her own game."

"He just got there a couple minutes earlier!" Shego defended herself. "He didn't beat me at _anything_!"

"You _lied_ to me?" Drakken looked wounded. "You didn't tell me about this man?"

"Hey!" She shouted back. "_YOU_ didn't tell me about the Syntho upgrades! So _suck it_!"

"You didn't tell him?" Cutter gave Shego a considering look. "You covered for me?"

"She was just embarrassed." Ron piped up next to him. "Didn't want to admit she was beat by a _loser_ like you."

"He didn't beat me!" Shego hollered. Kim started to worry that maybe the woman was getting a little too upset.

"Enough!" Drakken screamed. He looked directly at Cutter. "I must have the Amplifier to complete the R.E.R.! What do you want?"

Cutter gave him a stupid look. "Are you _serious_? I want the money we agreed on! Good lord…" He shook his head. "What is wrong with you people?"

"Fine!" Drakken reached into his coat pocket and angrily pulled out his chequebook. He mumbled to himself as he scribbled on the piece of paper. "It's getting so a villain can't do some honest double-crossing anymore."

"Great." Ron grumbled at the dark man next to him. "Glad to see that the world has a price tag for you." Cutter gave him a blank stare.

"No!" Shego snarled. "I don't buy it! There's more to it then just money!" She took a threatening step forward. "He's got another motive, I know it!" Cutter's silver eyes were unreadable as he met her gaze.

"There!" Drakken tore the piece of paper from the booklet. "Now give me the Amp!" Cutter continued looking at Shego, back stiff as a board. Then he slumped his shoulders with a sigh and with surprising fluidity, he leapt into the air and landed next to Drakken on the platform. Drakken fell back in shock. Kim narrowed her eyes at the unusual man. He could have done that at any time.

"Here." He handed the package to Drakken with one hand and swiped the cheque with the other. "Enjoy." The megalomaniac took a moment to gather his wits, but as soon as he did, he tore at the package with glee. Kim recognized this as the moment of truth. She palmed the small object that she had been carefully retrieving from her utility belt during the conversation.

"At last!" Drakken raised the silicon board in his hands. "The final piece!" Without another moment's hesitation, he spun and slid the object into a thin slot running along the length of the R.E.R. The machine lit up with a low frequency hum. Drakken giggled in delight. "It is complete! The world is mine!"

Kim twisted the small device in her hand. A beam of red light shot out and burnt clean through the unmoving Synthodrone that held her. Almost instantly, the robot began to deflate as oily synthogel poured out from inside. Kim pulled and kicked, diving out of the dieing robot easily. Shego, still snarling at Cutter was caught by surprise. Kim took her from behind and drove her into the floor.

"Possible has escaped!" Drakken shrieked. "Synthodrones attack! Destroy Kim Possible!"

En masse, the liquid-filled constructs came at her with single-minded abandon. Kim raised her laser lipstick in one hand, pulled out a handful of razor bobby pins in the other and leapt to meet them.

-

* * *

Ron was quickly overrun by robots. Lucky enough, they were not after him specifically and pretty much ignored him. Even so, he was being trampled underfoot as they swarmed after Kim. He tried to fight back, but he could not. His mystical monkey power was there, but just out of reach. He couldn't access it. He couldn't become the monkey. He thought about Sensei, imagined his disappointed face at the failure of his student. He thought about Kim, who he was letting down, once more the bumbling sidekick way out of his league. 

Then he was being pulled from the mass by powerful hands.

Ron gasped as though he was breaking from the sea. He lay on the ground, beaten and sore. He looked up into the face that had saved him. Glinting silver eyes looked right back.

"You ok?" Cutter asked him.

"Stop it." Ron rolled on his side, away from the thief. "Stop acting like you give a damn."

"Ron." The man sighed. "I _do_ give a…"

"No you don't!" The teen spat. "You practically handed Drakken the world, and for what? Money! You could have stopped him!"

"I hardly handed him the world." Cutter grumbled. "I just sold him a stolen piece of technology. What he does with it is not my business. I'm a _thief_. I _steal_ stuff. _That_ is my business."

"_Business_… how can you call that _business_?"

"It's all I know, Ron." Cutter growled. "It's all I've ever…"

"You disgust me." Ron hunched over his pained belly. "You're a monster."

Cutter flinched as though he had been struck. His expression was cold as he stood up and walked away from the aggrieved young man. "You're welcome." He said flatly.

Ron groaned. And not just because of the pain. He regretted lashing out at the dark man who had saved him. Two times now in one day. Part of it was because he was physically hurt and had no other immediate outlet but to spew venom at whomever was nearest. But the other part was harder to pinpoint. He resented Cutter. A man with obvious skill and strength, someone who could easily use his power to help people, but instead he used it to make money. He wasn't evil. He was just selfish. And here _he_ was, bruised and battered, laying on the floor in his own misery. He wanted to help. He desperately wanted to jump up and save the day, stop the villains and aid his girlfriend... but he couldn't. He didn't have the power. People like Cutter did.

Ron had never felt so powerless.

Unfortunately, Ron didn't see the bravery and strength of character in his actions as he pushed himself to his feet, despite the pain in his body. He couldn't distance himself enough to recognize how adeptly he had been handling himself against such ridiculous odds. To Ron, he was just a bumbling fool, wandering from one embarrassment to the next. He never saw the incredible things he did in between.

His raw devotion to Kim drove the numbness from his limbs and he circled around the platform, trying to find a way up. He saw the slashing beams of laser light, cutting through one or two rubbery drones at a time. Kim was fine. She had come prepared this time around.

But Ron felt a chill creep into his spine as he heard the low hum of the Reverse Engineering Ray start to grow in strength. He looked up to see Drakken swiveling the weapon on its tripod, aiming into the mass of drones.

"I have you now, Kim Possible!" The madman cried out.

Ron's heart leapt into his throat. He couldn't climb up. So he did the first thing that came to his mind.

He threw his shoe at him.

-

* * *

Kim dived to the side as a wild beam of blue energy fired off to her right, striking a pouncing Synthodrone. The robot shuddered in midair and then, before her eyes, transformed into a toaster oven. It dropped to the floor with a simple clank. 

She heard Drakken cursing vehemently, demanding to know who had thrown a shoe at him. She didn't have time to consider her luck as she reflexively threw more razor bobby pins while slashing with the laser as if it were a sword. Five more drones dropped and she took the moment of respite to sprint across the room and dive behind the workbench before the mad scientist could get another bead on her.

She was more then slightly surprised when she found two henchmen wedged under the table.

The cheerleader didn't stay there long, as another blast of blue struck the metal workbench itself. A moment later, the two henchmen were being crushed under a massive stone tablet.

Kim hopped and flipped away, trying to dodge the oncoming blasts as Drakken unloaded at her. She bounced off a server tower only to have it shrink into a plug-in calculator. She rolled past a ceramic kiln only to have it revert into a hot plate. She desperately ran along, leaving a trail of very old-school in her wake.

-

* * *

Shego had pulled herself back to her feet a few minutes ago. Stars still swam across her vision though. The cheerleader had drilled her pretty hard. 

As she made her way over near the main console, her mind quickly cleared. She had seen the princess fighting with the drones and then retreating from Drakken's stupid ray gun. She didn't understand why he couldn't make a regular old death-ray. Why did he have to spend all the extra time, money and materials to make a super weapon that de-evolved things. It simply didn't make sense.

She shook her head and found focus to her wandering thoughts. Just in time to see Chris Cutter walking towards the door. His expression was upset and he didn't even seem to notice her, so lost in his own idiot thoughts. Shego snarled and leapt at the man.

Cutter reacted a microsecond late and found himself pushed up against the console. He gave her a surprised look.

"You follow me around, steal my stuff and break into the lair." She said in clipped tones. "I don't believe for a second it's for money. Drakken couldn't write a single digit without it bouncing. So what _is_ it?" She leaned into his face, giving him a stare that promised death. "No more _fucking_ _around_. Tell me… _now_!"

Cutter met her deadly gaze with his own rocky one. It quickly cracked, however, and he looked downright… scared? Well, he outta be. She was _serious_. But she jerked back in confusion as Cutter gently raised his hands to lightly apply pressure at her shoulders.

"You're right." He said quietly. "I didn't come here for the money. Well… not _mostly_, anyway. And… I _have_ been following you. Since we first met in the research facility."

Shego let herself be pushed back by those powerful arms. "I knew it!" She snapped. "Why? Tell me or I'll…"

"Ok, ok. Jeez." He swallowed. "Here it goes… um… I just wanted… or, that is… I was wondering… _aw shit_..." He ran his hands through his hair roughly. Shego crossed her arms and gave him an impatient frown. What the hell was his deal? Couldn't the man talk anymore? That's all he did was talk and now he was mumbling like an idiot. He looked down at the floor and finally spoke again.

"I wanted… to ask you out, for like, a cup of coffee or something."

Shego's jaw dropped. She stared at him in absolute shock. He carefully glanced back up at her before dropping his gaze to the ground again, nervously.

"Or we could just… I dunno, go catch a movie sometime, if you're into that kinda thing. I'm pretty flexible…" His silver eyes shot up, wide in mortification. "Oh! But not like that! Or… I didn't mean… like that."

The only sound as the two thieves stood facing each other was the constant roaring barrage as Drakken continued to fire wildly at the dodging Kim Possible.

-

* * *

Ron stumbled to the side of the massive computer console, one shoe missing. The R.E.R. was blasting everywhere, following the insane gymnastic routine of Kim across the room. The synthos were still trying to get at her, but more often then not were simply caught in the wake of Drakken's assault. The henchmen had long since retreated from the room to safety. Everything the ray touched reverted into some sort of bizarre old device. He hated to think about what would happen if it struck something _living_. 

Ron needed to take the machine out, or at least give Kim a chance to even the odds. He looked around desperately.

Then, in a moment of clarity, he looked up.

"Rufus!" He shouted. "Rufus! Come on buddy!"

On cue, the naked mole rat came scurrying across the catwalk to look at Ron.

"Drakken!" He pointed at the roaring madman. "Get him!"

Rufus looked at the crazed scientist. He gave Ron an enthusiastic salute and went scurrying across the hanging machinery. Immediately, he set to loosening the light fixture right above Drakken's head.

-

* * *

Shego was frozen in place. He was asking her _out_. The bouncing idiot was actually asking her out on a _date_. After all the crap he had put her through, after all the confusion and embarrassment, the frustration and the exhaustion. It was all for _this_? 

"You…" she fumbled, finally. "You stole the amplifier from me…"

"Yeah…" He shrugged sheepishly. "I was… ah, just trying to impress you, I guess. You are, like, the greatest thief around. Hell, you're a freakin' _legend_ in the mercenary circles."

"You got in my way at Hench Co." She said angrily. "You called Kim on me!"

"No, no." Cutter raised his hands. "I did _not_ call the teens, Hench did. I just offered him my services as a merc to… um… _counteract_ you." He rubbed his neck, anxiously. "I was just trying to arrange a coincidental meeting so we could… I dunno… talk, or get to know each other." He rolled his eyes. "I guess I didn't expect you to try and blow me up right away."

"Then why the hell were you at the _Bolt Bin_, huh?" She very nearly shouted. "Why were you stealing my job _there_?"

"I _told_ you, I didn't steal _anything_ there!" He pleaded. "That weird kid gave it to me! I was just trying to bump into you casually, outside of work so maybe you wouldn't try to kill me immediately." He frowned at her. "This may come as a shock to you, but I am _not_ very good at this! I honestly have _no_ _idea_ what I'm doing, alright?" He sighed and looked away. "I just don't have any experience with… relationships."

Shego's mind reeled. She was furious. Absolutely furious. She wanted to punch him more then ever before. She wanted to scream at him. But her mouth wouldn't work. She was simply stunned by the unexpected declaration. This was not the first time someone had made a pass at Shego. Many men had propositioned her, seeing her as some sort of exotic wild woman, a bad girl who would give them a steamy one night stand. She had sent them all packing. It wasn't because she wasn't a hot-blooded woman with her own desires. But the idea of a one night stand with that type of person disgusted her. And Shego had been hurt before, hurt in ways most people couldn't begin to grasp. She had long ago learned to shut down, to be ice cold. Back when she had come to understand and accept what she was. A thing like her couldn't have friendships. A thing like her couldn't have any of those things.

Cutter looked at her; shining silver eyes glinted with the constant barrage of blue light from Drakken's ray gun. His expression was one of pure trepidation. He had been cocky and arrogant all the times she had faced him. Seemingly as sure as himself as anyone could be. And more then once she had seen that face twisted into something feral and terrifying, more animal then man. But now he was a nervous wreck, fidgety, scared and hopelessly supplicating. She felt her heart crack under that puppy dog stare, ever so slightly. She looked into those strange silver irises, trying to think of what to do. Hell… what to _say_ to this man. This dark haired man with his sharp jaw and toned, athletic physique that she had carefully ignored before. No… she wasn't seriously considering this… was she?

"Sweetpea?" He said hesitantly. "Are you going to say anyth…"

A loud smash came from the platform as an entire lighting fixture came crashing down onto Drakken who was blasting at the room's entrance. The mad scientist screamed in surprise and pain as he lurched sideways, the Reverse Engineering Ray firing wide as he did so. Shego fell backwards reflexively as the blue beam of energy arced across the distance between her and the raised platform.

It struck Cutter directly.

The dark man screamed in agony as he was enveloped. Shego recoiled in horror as his body twisted and coiled in pain. The noise from his mouth didn't sound human. It warped and rolled through several octaves. His back arched and his shoulders popped. His entire body seemed to lengthen and swell.

She could only watch as he changed before her eyes.

-

* * *

Wade answered the call within the first ring. He hadn't gotten around to calling Dr Possible back, since he had been suddenly busy with the surge in activity at Drakken's lair. Most of his screens were full of data pertaining to the R.E.R. and the logistics behind it. He had been trying to pinpoint something useful for the hard-pressed Team Possible when the caller ID popped up on his screen, followed a few seconds later by the actual ring of the phone through his computer speakers. 

Wade tapped quickly on his keyboard, hearing the pickup noise. "Hello, Dr Possible. Sorry I didn't call back. Got a little busy."

"That's fine, Wade." Came the phone-quality voice. "I took a look at that bio-scan of yours, and let me tell you… " the phone hissed as she adjusted her grip on the handle, "it was _very_ interesting. Where do you find these people?"

Wade's eyebrows furrowed. "Why? What do you mean?"

"Well… if these readings are correct. Whoever, or _whatever_ you scanned this from is defiantly not human, though it's pretty close. Kinda odd, though."

"What?" Wade pressed her. "What's odd?"

"The DNA's sequence is fundamentally different from any other sequence I've seen before. Man _or_ animal. Strange, it's almost like it was welded together, almost too perfectly. There is always a generally organic quality to most forms of life, tiny flaws or mutations that make us unique. But this… _feels_ like it was engineered. Built from the ground up by someone for a very specific task."

"A specific task?" Wade's mind reeled. "Like what?"

"I couldn't begin to tell you, hon." Dr. Possible answered. "But I think it's a safe bet that your mystery man was created in a lab. A very _advanced_ lab, I might add. I can't imagine the technology needed to do this kind of work. Nor would I want to. This is someone playing God."

Wades stomach grew cold. Did the Worldwide Evil Empire actually _engineer_ Cutter? Did they have that kind of capability? It was to terrifying to comprehend. "Ok. Thanks, Dr P. That helps a lot."

"Sure, Wade." She hesitated, ever so slightly. "Make sure Kimmie gets home safe, ok?"

"Yes, Mrs Possible." Wade said, awkwardly. "She's… um… always on top of things."

The woman laughed lightly. "She sure is." The line went dead.

Wade immediately set to researching information on genetic engineering and gene splicing in addition to his already workload. This didn't bode well at all. He needed to crack that algorithm and _soon_. The threat of WEE had just jumped into a new level. His next act was to try and ring up Kim, assuming she wasn't too distracted to answer, so that she could update her on the sitch. She would want to know this.

A few familiar taps of the keyboard and the sat link signal was sent to the Kimmunicator.

-

* * *

Kim raised her wrist at the sound of the familiar chime, even as she rolled across the floor to land behind the doorway into the control room. She threw herself flat against the wall and pressed the 'answer' button as Drakken's blue ray fired passed her. 

"Go Wade." She clipped.

"Kim!" The young man exclaimed. "I got some news on that Chris Cutter guy…"

"Great." Kim groaned as another blast fired through the doorway. She heard Drakken shouting in her direction from back in the control room. "Cause he's _here_."

Wade gave her a shocked look. "What? He's _there_? _Now_?"

"Why?" Kim said, sensing the urgency. "What's the news?"

"I just got the results from the bioscan. He's…"

Wade was cut off as a loud crash sounded back in the room, alongside a girlish scream from Drakken. Kim quickly leaned back from around the corner just in time to see the R.E.R. swing wildly to the side as the blue maniac was knocked clean off the platform by a falling light fixture. What kept her from laughing out loud was the sight that followed.

Cutter, standing off to the side with Shego, was struck with the wild blue beam of energy. Kim heard him scream violently and she winced as he was surrounded by blue light.

"What's happening?" Wade cried out from the Kimmunicator's tiny screen.

"It's Cutter." Kim said empathetically. "He got hit by the R.E.R."

"You mean he's being de-evolved?" Wade practically squeaked.

Kim looked down at his pixilated face. His eyes were as wide as they could go. "Why?" She said. "What's wrong?"

"That's what I wanted to tell you, Kim!" Wade spoke emphatically. "The bioscan shows that Cutter was grown in a lab! He's genetically engineered! Created by WEE for some evil purpose!"

Kim's own eyes widened in shock. "He was grown? Good lord... But then… if he didn't evolve from anything? _What is he going to reverse into_?" She jerked involuntarily as Cutter's scream suddenly changed pitch. Her head spun back to watch in horror as Cutter actually grew in size. His black clothes tore as his limbs lengthened and his chest widened. He dropped to the floor as is legs popped and thickened underneath him, ripping his pants along the length. His scream turned into a roar. A bloodcurdling roar.

Wade's worried voice cut through the Kimmuncator's speakers. "I don't know. A _prototype_?"

"_A prototype of what_?" Kim almost screamed into the wrist-bound device.

-

* * *

Pain. 

Everywhere.

He was lost. Drowning in it. He couldn't breathe without filling his lungs with it. Every cell screamed at him, twisting themselves into something else; a memory of something that his mind could not recall but his body understood.

He felt the darkness clawing up from below. The pain always gave birth to the darkness. It was blind rage, mindless animal instinct. He fought to keep himself, grabbed at the scraps of sanity that dangled before him like threads of fine silk, but one by one they snapped.

His mind changed with his body. Parts of the brain that carried reason and understanding shrunk and flattened. Any scrap of who he was became buried under raw impulse. The two parts of him met in his mind. One was human: thinking and comprehending, conscientious and merciful. The other was something alien: savage and powerful, lethal and predatory. They met and they fought, battling for control of his mind. But as the battlefield shifted, his brain reverting into something simpler, the savage part gained advantage. It overwhelmed the pieces of human that remained and it spread like darkness across his mind.

The monster became aware again, its senses sharper then ever before. The senses of a true hunter. It took a shuddering first breath.

It smelt prey.

-

* * *

Shego crawled backwards, away from the mutating Cutter. Corded muscles, thick and massive, rolled across his hunching form. She saw his hands, growing as lengths of boney-white sprouted from his fingertips, shaping and sharpening into massive claws longer then her forearms. All along his arms the sharpened bone grew, bursting from his elbows into a wicked scythe-like blade. The process was mirrored down his legs, his feet splaying wide into huge clawed talons. Along his backbone and shoulders, more cutting edges erupted, all the way up his spine to the base of his lengthening neck. His head was being held between his legs, shuddering in pain. The howling roar grew silent. 

Shego continued to slowly scuttle backwards, away from the monster. Her face was a mask of sheer horror, jaw slack and eyebrows climbing into her hairline. She jerked to a sudden stop as her back bumped into the swiveling chair that sat before the computer console.

"Cu- Cutter?" She managed to stammer.

The monster shifted. She heard a whistling intake of air as massive lungs took a deep, long breath. Then the air was pushed out again in a low, reverberating growl that she felt in the floor itself. The monster rose, agonizingly slow. Its head swung along its long, muscled neck to look directly at the frozen Shego.

Cutter's face, twisted and lengthened, stared back at her. His mouth and jaw were wider, his nose flattened and opened. His brow was sloped to the point where the bridge jut out, giving the appearance of perpetual glower. And his eyes… his once silver iris were gone. His whole pupil was gone. The entire orb was now a convex mirror in which she could see the reflection of the control room behind her.

Those mirrors stared at her, unmoving. Then, Cutter's lips curled back into what should have been a smile, but instead was a baring of fangs. Rows of long, gleaming knives that parted ever-so-slightly. Shego cringed in fear.

A long, snaking tongue emerged from that maw and licked along his lips.

* * *

_HOLY CRAP! What the HELL is going ON??!! This whole thing keeps getting more and more eff'd up with each passing chapter!! Why won't it just END already?! I'd tell you that there is only one more left to go… but you wouldn't believe me. Hell, __I__ don't even believe me anymore._


	8. Part Eight: Differant Monsters

Realease Notes:

Holy Crap! It has been a while. Been busy with a dozen other things.

I gotta admit, I thought the final episode(s) were pretty sweet. Atta boy Ron! I love how the show writers totally picked good-humored fun at the fanfic community. Positively glorious. I gotta admit I never expected them to pair Drak and Shego within continuity. I know that there are plenty of fans who've been pushing for the idea, but I always saw their relationship as sorta brother-sister or even father-daughter. It's cool though, they're just wrapping up all manner of loose ends.

Unfortunatly, for that reason above all I am going to have to re-imagine my own version of Graduation a little bit in order to fit in with my plans for the SecretShame Saga. I really didn't want to; from the beginning I wanted to write 'around and about' the original episodes as opposed to ignoring or contradicting them. Even now, I'm thinking I am going to stick with the major premise of what happened in Graduation, just because it was so awesome, and by and large, most of it will inform/fit in with the larger story arc of the Saga.

Of course, none of that really matters if no one reads it. Which is why I should really stop babbling and just start writing.

The Author.

-

* * *

**Part Eight: Different Monsters**

Everything had been going so well.

He had finished his genius doomsday device, he had set a (sort-of) clever trap for Kim Possible, he had been just about to devolve the meddling teen into some sort of prehistoric thing or another, he was going to use his nefarious ray to take over the world itself and he had some of mother's leftover meatloaf in the fridge that he was going to eat after all this was said and done.

But then, as Dr. Drakken's head fought its way through the black spots in his vision, he became aware of the horrible sound. A screaming animal, assaulting his eardrums. So terrible that it twisted his insides to hear. And then it stopped, and Drakken's eyes rolled open with a groan.

Everything was going so wrong.

-

* * *

Ron Stoppable stumbled away from the mess of ruined light fixture and the moaning blue form of Drakken pinned beneath it. Rufus' aim, as usual, was impeccable. How the tiny fleshy rodent pulled off these unlikely saves, Ron never truly understood. He simply accepted them as par for the course. The mad scientist was down for the count, it seemed.

But that didn't help the terrible feeling that was growing in his gut.

Ron had seen the Reverse Engineering Ray fire wide when the fixture had dropped, knocking Drakken off the raised platform. And judging from the awful scream that had followed, he could safely assume that someone had been hit by it. From the sound of it, most likely Chris Cutter.

He wasn't so cold hearted that he didn't feel pity for the dark-haired man. True, he was a lying thief and had been little more then trouble from the moment they had met, but Ron still wouldn't wish anything more then a punch in the face towards the man. After all, he _had_ saved his life once or twice… sorta. That was worth something to the blonde teen. Plus Ron was at his heart a good guy. Even people he hated didn't deserve to be de-evolved into primordial goo.

But none of those thoughts were causing the rising dread in his chest. A knot of fear that seemed so… primal, that it was almost foreign to the suburb-raised teenager. It was almost as if some bizarre monkey sense was calling at him from deep inside. And yet, his mystical monkey powers did not come forth when he reached for them. That was not unusual. It was getting so that he could never tell when Tai Shing Pek Kwar would manifest itself.

A deep reverberation sounded in the room, and the fear in Ron's chest spiked. That wasn't a mechanical noise. That was a growl.

The young man circled around the raised platform and came to a screeching halt, frozen in mute shock at the terrifying image before him. Rolling muscles and ivory blades slowly stalked towards a cowering Shego. A hulking monster with fangs, claws and spikes protruding from seemingly every joint. Only the tattered black cloth that still hung from its metamorphosed body gave clue as to who the creature had once been.

He understood instantly where the sense of dread had come from.

-

* * *

Through the control room entrance Kim Possible sprinted, directly towards the Cutter-monster and the motionless Shego it was closing upon. The redheaded teen could see that her green-skinned nemesis was uncharacteristically frozen in alarm. She had to admit that even she had been rooted in place for a moment to simply process what had just happened. The enigmatic thief, Chris Cutter, whom she had just learnt was not precisely human, had been de-evolved into some sort of genetically engineered monster by a fluke shot from Dr Drakken's Reverse Engineering Ray.

She had to admit, this was one of the less-likely events she had expected to occur this day.

"_Options, Wade_!" She shouted at her oversized blue wristwatch. The dark, freckled face of the younger child genius didn't meet her eyes through the tiny LCD screen, instead focusing on the multitude of monitors around him as he furiously worked on the powerful computers at his disposal.

"I'm trying!" He cried out in frustration. "I have no idea what Cutter even _was_, let alone what he's _devolved_ into! I need more time!"

"Hurry!" The teen leapt aside as several of Drakken's pre-programmed Synthodrones jumped into her way, still following their orders despite the drastic change of sitch. She easily avoided their robotic grasps, but they slowed her down.

She would never make it to Shego in time.

-

* * *

Hot breath rolled across her face, causing her wavy black hair to shudder as if caught in a breeze. She couldn't take her eyes off the teeth. Glistening fangs, unsheathed from the curled lips on Cutter's distorted face. Since childhood, Shego had been afraid of teeth. When her older brother had been six, and herself only four, their father had bought a family dog. It had been a hairy little thing, some sort of mutt amalgamation between a Terrier and a Spaniel. The kennel that her father had adopted from had been under investigation for cruelty to animals, which is why it shouldn't have been a surprise when the scared and abused animal had bit her. To this day, she remembered the little dog's snarling face, obscenely long canine teeth bared from an adorable little snout. She still remembered the pain when the creature latched onto her arm, still smelt the sharp animal aroma of its hair, still carried the small scar just below the elbow.

The monster and his toothy grin came forward, larger then any dog, curved talons dragging furrows across the floor. The green woman's mind refused to work, trying to deny the reality of this nightmare come true.

Cutter's head leaned in closer, testing the air. His hunching bulk filled her vision, sickle blades jutting off from his shoulders and elbows like some sort of walking medieval torture device. His movements were smooth and deliberate, like a jungle cat, and his pupilless reflective eyes watched her with unnerving intensity. At the back of her head she recognized a voice that was calling her name, screaming at her to move, but she couldn't even find the nerve to blink.

Cutter's maw opened wide, wider then a human jaw could possibly stretch, and a growling breath came from deep down his dark gullet. Even though his mouth was still no where near large enough, Shego was afraid he would swallow her whole.

Then Shego finally blinked, as the rumble turned into a howl and the monster flinched and twisted his long neck, trying to dislodge the three razor-sharp bobby pins that had been lodged there. She realized that she was holding her breath and her lungs expelled forcefully. The spell now broken, Kim's voice rang crystal clear in her ears, calling her name from farther behind the monster.

"_Damnit__Shego_!! _Move_!!"

Cutter turned back to her, the pins no more then an annoyance and already half-forgotten. He snarled, his reflective eyes narrowing. But the green woman's own emerald eyes were also narrowing, and her own black lips twisted into her own snarl. The familiar features of the annoying, frustrating, arrogant, bouncing idiot in the face of that big freak fueled her rage. She refused to be afraid of an overgrown mutt.

"I am _not_ moving. I got here _first_." She hissed through her clenched jaw as she stared down the towering Cutter. Her clenched fists burst into swirling flames of green plasma and she raised them in front of her. "_You_ move."

The monster went roaring across the room, propelled by an unearthly blast of energy.

-

* * *

Kim threw herself to the ground as Cutter spun overhead. Three standing Synthodrones were effectively ripped apart by the assemblage of slashing edges that protruded from the genetically engineered monster as it barreled through them. She felt the warm splash of synthogel along her prone body as the robots burst like water balloons.

She managed to glance backwards as the creature twisted through the air, screaming like a wounded badger. Into a rack of equipment it smashed, scattering electronics like dead leaves in the fall. With hardly a moments hesitation, the teen superhero was up and crossing the distance to the supercomputer console where Shego was crouched on one knee, grimacing in the direction she had sent Cutter. Ron was quick to meet them there, also staring back across the cavernous room with a look of sheer disbelief.

"Are you all right?" Kim was quick to ask her longtime arch nemesis, momentarily forgetting again the bad blood between them.

"Stupid freaking men." Shego snarled, her pale green face pinched with fury. Slight wisps of grey smoke rose from her cooling hands.

"What… _is_ he?" Ron sounded abnormally grim. Kim stole a glance at her blonde boyfriend only to see him still staring rigidly, as if seeing something that no one else could.

"He's a genetically engineered… _thing_, I guess." The cheerleader quickly explained. "Apparently he was created by The Evil Empire for something nasty."

"He was… _made_?" Shego said quietly and Kim's head spun back to look at her. The woman's expression had softened somewhat into almost confusion. "Someone… _created_ him to be a… a _weapon_?"

"Wade's working on the bioscans," the redhead continued hastily, "looking for a solution to…"

"He's coming back." Ron spoke flatly.

Kim turned to see the beast leap out of the pile of equipment with a spray of metal and plastic to land with a resounding thump on the metal floor. Raising up to its full height, it swung its great clawed hands to either side of its muscled flanks and unleashed a deafening roar towards the ceiling.

-

* * *

Drakken had a splitting headache. One that was not being helped by all the screaming and yelling that was going on. He managed to drag himself from underneath the light fixture and prop himself up against the raised platform where his reverse engineering ray was mounted. He rubbed his face with his gloved hands, trying to force the throbbing pain out of his skull.

"Ow, ow, ow…" he whined aloud. "Argh! Where's an aspirin when you need one?"

The growling hiss of exhaled air pressured against his eardrums and the following howl made him jerk involuntarily. Drakken moaned with renewed vigor. What was making all that noise? The mad scientist crawled along the width of the base, poking his pony-tailed head out far enough to see the commotion.

He was just in time to be practically blinded by the exploding flash of green light from Shego's hands. But he still managed to get a full, terrified look at the growling monster that was reaching for her before it was knocked across the room. All teeth, claw, spike and muscle, it was a walking work of evil art. He blinked away the black spots in his vision as the mutant life form crashed into more then a few pieces of expensive equipment, but he hardly noticed. What was it? Where the heck had it come from?

"No matter," the blue skinned man narrowed his eyes dangerously, "I must have it! Capture it, bend it to my will and clone an army of it to terrorize the world into submission! Yes!" He chuckled to himself, his mind already swirling with the possibilities. But first he would need to subdue the creature.

He watched as the beast leapt back to its feat and roared defiantly at his assailants. Around him, any number of Sythodrones silently ignored him, trying to press in towards Kim Possible, as they had been programmed earlier to do. The beast snarled at the nearest drone that wandered past him and slashed out with its long curved claws, easily slicing the robot in half and sending the gushing torso portion flying through the air. Drakken winced. His regular Synthodrones would be no match for the brute.

"But perhaps…" the evil genius' lips curved into a fierce smile. "My improved Berserker Synthos will prove more up to the task!" And so, Drakken snaked along the ground towards the main computer console, being careful to avoid the eyes of his hated arch nemesis who was too busy watching the roaring terror to notice his exploits.

-

* * *

"Back up!" Kim shouted, waving her arm behind her. Ron gave her just enough room so that she didn't swat him in the process, but he would be damned if he was retreating without her.

The Cutter-monster snapped at another Synthodrone that passed too near, but it didn't flinch as it made its way towards its redheaded target. The monster cocked its head uncertainly, seeming confused by the synthetic creatures that were ignoring him. Appearing to decide they were no immediate threat, he swung his head back to face the three quarry before him. His lips curled back to snarl menacingly.

"It's going to charge! Get ready to run!" Kim adjusted her stance in front of Ron, he tried to do likewise but truthfully hadn't the slightest clue where they could go. The Synthodrones marched forward, blocking any immediate exit.

"Him." Shego spoke up.

Both Kim and Ron turned to look at the green woman. She was staring at the monster with an unreadable expression. "Him… not _it_."

Both Kim and Ron were forced to quickly turn their attention back to the oncoming drones as the first two robots quickly came upon them.

"Ron!" His teammate barked, gaining his attention for a moment. Out of her utility pouch Kim's hand tossed him her laser lipstick and let loose a volley of razor pins in one fluid movement.

"On it, KP!" Ron just managed to catch the dangerous device and use it to cut down one drone even as the other slowly bled onto the floor.

The monster didn't quite charge. Instead he leapt laterally onto the far wall, his razor claws digging easily into the concrete. Along the vertical surface he loped and swung, quickly circling around the room to their right.

"He's trying to flank us!" Kim hopped backwards, dodging another barrage of synthetic jabs and sweeping out their legs as she went. "Regroup!"

"Always got to be the boss." Shego snorted, but fell in line beside Kim to face the rapidly moving adversary. Ron stayed just behind her, facing the next wave of drones who were mere footsteps from engaging.

The Cutter-monster slid along the wall with unworldly ease, sending sparks flying whenever he crossed a metal surface. A vertical conduit of wire was severed in a flash of electricity, causing nearly half the lights in the room to flicker off. One or two emergency fixtures automatically kicked on in the darkened corners, bathing them in an eerie red glow. The glowing white orbs and dark silhouettes of the marching Synthodrones created the atmosphere of a zombie horror movie. Ron gulped audibly. The monster scurried up towards the ceiling, his claws making vicious scraping noises as he went.

"Watch him!" Kim cried out, reaching into her utility pouch. She shoved Shego towards the drones "And cover me!"

"Hey!" Shego snapped as she barreled into the synthetic soldiers. "These things are not even after me!"

"But Cutter _will__be_ if Kim doesn't stop him!" Ron snapped at his new battle companion. He held the lipstick like the hilt of a tiny sword. The effect was rather comical, he had to admit.

"Phff.." she huffed, casually poking holes in the drone she had bumped into. "Like she would do anything that I couldn't…"

The monster came roaring down into their midst. Ron felt an overwhelming wave of panic as his vision was filled with tooth and claw and blade. A strangely absurd thought crossed his mind and he wondered if Cutter the thief would eat him or just steal his wallet.

Then there was crackling blue all around them, and the monster literally bounced. Into the mass of Synthos he rolled, seemingly stunned, causing vicious slashes and impalements with his bladed body. Ron saw Shego, both hands glowing with green energy, looking around in equal disbelief. The both looked at Kim in tandem.

The redhead stood straight, holding a cylindrical-shaped device above her head. The crackling blue shield around them faded and then blinked away.

"Woah! Cool!" Ron couldn't help but shout in excitement. "New gadget!"

"It's a portable version of the battlesuit's shield." She lowered the device with a frown. "But it only has three charges before it burns out."

"That's great, Kimmie." Shego cut in. "I'm really glad for you,_ now could we focus on the genetically engineered monster_?"

Cutter's growling had taken a dizzy note to it. He shook his head and actually brought his clawed hands up to hold his skull in a very human-looking gesture. He retracted them instantly, snarling as rivulets of blood trickled down his temples where his serrated talons had punctured him. He roared angrily, at his massive ivory-edged knuckles and smashed them into the ground, cracking the cement floor.

"He can't… _hold_ anything." Shego was staring at Cutter again, speaking to herself. Ron gave the green woman a confused look. "Everything he touches… is destroyed."

"Um, are you _ok_?" He asked her carefully. The thief blinked and looked at him with a frown, seemingly snapped out of the moment.

"Fine, _sidekick_." She sneered. "Never better."

"Guys?" Kim's voice from just behind them made them turn to her. "Why have the Synthos stopped?"

Ron looked around him. The Synthodrones _had_ stopped. They all stood silent and erect, completely immobile. Even their glowing orbs had dimmed. Several were swept away as the monster continued to slash in dazed anger, but the rest never flinched.

"Worry not, Shego! It's all part of my newest plan!" The surprising voice of Drakken came from behind them all. Naturally, they all spun to regard him as he stood next to the massive computer control console. He stepped back from the panel and smiled evilly at his arch nemesis. "I thank you, Kim Possible, for keeping that beast distracted long enough for me to reprogram my Synthodrones! Soon they will all mutate into behemoths that will easily overwhelm and subdue the creature so that I may bend it to my will! And then… I will unleash the beast on_you_!" He began his typical laugh which was quickly cut off.

"_You did what_?!" Kim, Ron and Shego all shouted at the same time.

Drakken's smile fell, and he looked at them with thinly veiled concern. "What? What's wrong with that?" Ron didn't even know where to begin with that answer.

-

* * *

"You big, blue, idiot!" Shego shouted at her employer. She couldn't believe that he did this to her, _again_. She looked back to the frozen squadron of synthetic soldiers, crowded throughout the room. Sure enough, they were changing. Expanding as though their insides were ballooning with pressure.

"Wade," the princess quickly squawked into her wristwatch, "we have a whole new sitch."

"I don't get it." Drakken whined. "Shego, what's going on? Why are you freaking out?"

"I'm aware," she heard the blue communicator squawk back, "hold on…"

"You know," the blonde sidekick groaned, "I think I'd actually rather be studying."

"Hey!" Drakken started sounding irritated. "Would somebody pay attention to…"

Shego rounded on him. "Listen, you _moron_! The super synthos are _defective_! As soon as they come back online they are going to go ballistic on_everyone_!"

Drakken snorted. "Well, that is the whole point of…"

"_Everyone includes you and me_!"

Drakken paused. His eyes widened considerably as the reality of the situation dawned on him. Shego spun back to watch as Cutter rose steadily out of the throng, seeming to shake off the last effects of the shield impact. His large head swung around, taking in the changing robots around him. He hissed and slashed out at the nearest one, spilling forth steaming half-solidified synthogel. When the transformation was complete, the gel would be completely solidified and a simple slash wouldn't incapacitate any of the drones so easily.

"Got it!" The nerd on the other end of the cheerleader's wrist communicator piped up. "Are you anywhere near Drakken's computer console?"

"I can be." Kim answered confidently. Shego had to admire how the teen always seemed in control. She would never admit that she herself often lacked the same self control and it was a weakness the younger girl always managed to exploit when the two of them met in the field. The redhead crossed the distance between herself and Drakken in three leaping bounds. The mad scientist fell back in surprise. "What now?"

The electronic response was drowned out by a shuddering roar. Shego looked back to Cutter to see him lifting a squirming synthodrone, impaled on his long ivory claws. One by one, the hulking super-synthos began moving again, seeking out the first available target. A couple started shambling towards them, pinpricks of white light shining through their recessed sockets.

"Um… Kimmie?" Shego called over her shoulder. "If the nerd's going to do something, it had best be _now_." She watched Cutter, huge and muscled, swat away the few drones that were pawing at him in a disorganized muddle. If the drones weren't there to distract him, would he immediately attack the people in the room again? Or would he calm down if they left him alone, like the other times when she and he had fought before he had been devolved? She couldn't be sure. As a matter of fact… why did she even care?

"Hey!" Drakken protested his nemesis who was stewing over the massive control panel. "Don't touch that! It's only used for _evil_!" He reached for her wrist and earned a quick slap on the hand from the cheerleader. He retracted with a yelp.

"Say again, Wade?" Kim prompted her teammate as she gave Drakken a dirty look. "Some people over here don't know how to shut up."

"Plug the Kimmunicator into that data port on the side." The nerdling instructed. "I should be able to access and override the syntho's command line."

"_Kim_!" The sidekick stepped backwards away from the super synthos. "Tell him to hurry!" He held the tiny lipstick in front of him like it was a time bomb. Shego groaned and rolled her eyes. How the hell did she keep finding herself in these positions?

Cutter roared again, making them all look at him. Three more drones went flying through the air to crash into the crowd. Shego swore that he looked more annoyed then anything. He easily knocked the few super synthos who were actively attacking him aside as if they were children. How much of Cutter was still inside that snarling monster? How much of that smug dork who had the gall to steal her work, ruin her mission, break into the lair and then turn around and _ask her out_ was still worming under that jagged surface? And why did that make her so angry? She let loose a green flash of power as the nearest robot came within striking distance with more strength then she had originally intended. Back into the room it spun, knocking aside several more in its wake. She had been in this position before, and knew that wouldn't stop the super synthos as yet more came their way. The blonde teen beside her groaned.

"Ok!" Shego heard the electronic voice behind her. "I've got it!" Suddenly the drones stopped moving for a second time. Not fully trusting the momentary lapse, she risked a look behind her to where Drakken was milling around Kim at the console.

"What did you do? What did you do?" He shook his fists like an angry child. "You better not have wrecked my stuff!"

"I've managed to reestablish a command link with the drones." The electronic voice ignored Drakken's protests. "They are back under computer control. Now what do you want to do with them, Kim?"

The redhead turned and looked past Shego at the snarling visage of Cutter the monster. He had quickly swept back all the drones nearest to him upon their sudden halt, and now he locked gazes with the only other living creatures in the room. His mirror-like eyes narrowed into fierce slits and he dropped down onto all fours, his bladed shoulders tensing like a cat about to spring.

"Tell them to take that thing down." Kim said coldly.

"No… wait!" Shego found herself protesting, much to her surprise. "You can't…"

"He's going to kill us, Shego." The younger woman stared at her with surprisingly stern jade eyes that made her seem much older at that moment. "And who knows how many others, unless we stop him _now_."

As the more then hundred super synthodrones snapped into sudden, eerily-coordinated action, the green woman had no argument available.

-

* * *

The monster knew these prey. They're scents played upon his memory. Primal as it was, he did remember. He had tasted these scents back when he was before. Two were male and two were female, he could tell that by odor alone. The one pair were mated, or close enough that it made no difference to the monster. He could sense the shared fear between them, not only for themselves but for each other. The sort of fear that could be exploited in the hunt. It was the kind of cold understanding that a natural predator had without fully comprehending it. That had meant something once. When he was weak and soft and his mind was full of thoughts. Useless, complicated thoughts. Now there was only instinct. It was all the monster needed.

But a breath of memory sparked in his devolved brain. The other female… the one who had hurt him. The one who had inflamed the instinct to kill with her painful green light. Her scent carried another instinct that also came from before. The monster desired her. Yes, sex was but another primal instinct to the creature in its savage state. But even now, as the human and monstrous aspects of its genetically engineered mind battled over the meaning of this impulse, the need to mate was confused and intermingled with the need to kill and survive. The monster desired her… and so the monster would kill and devour her in an orgy of impulse.

Somewhere deep down, the human aspect cried out in terrified horror at this prospect.

Instinct is what told the monster that he was in danger moments before he was actually attacked. Danger from the unliving things all around that smelt like burnt earth. They grabbed at him like vines and twisted like giant slugs. They swarmed as insects did, crawling over his body.

The monster roared and lashed out in fury. His claws, long and brutally sharp, tore through the unliving things as easily as they would through meat and bone. His powerful hind legs kicked and stomped, their own wicked claws shredding and crushing his foes. Still they swarmed. Instinctively his many-vertebrae'd neck darted to the side and he sunk fangs into one of the unliving things that held on to the blades of his shoulder. Distasteful was the thing's insides as the monster wrenched it from it's perch with a mighty flex of his neck and whipping his head to loose it back it into the mass. The bitter flavor remained, leaving the monster desiring the taste of blood to wash it away.

But the tide continued to rise around him and so the monster raged mindlessly. He knew no fear, though he fought for his survival. The monster knew nothing but the need to hunt and kill. As such, he was a fundamentally flawed creation; missing the reason and mindset of a human being as well as the natural pragmatism of an animal. Engineered from two different sources into a physically imposing specimen, but lacking the necessary mental attributes from either to be a successful weapon, let alone a species. It was, perhaps, for this reason that whoever had created the creature had gone on to engineer a more humanoid successor beyond this prototypic phase. Though such thoughts on the nature of its existence were as far beyond the monster at that moment as the stars were beyond the moon.

And as a relentless horde of unliving foes steadily began to blanket him in an ocean of stinging jabs and wounding tears, the monster's scope grew even more narrowed.

-

* * *

Ron's insides twisted at the sight of the flooding synthodrones. Not only because that strange nagging fear that had started harassing him since Cutter was devolved had been steadily rising. Not only because the thought of so many mutated super-synthos in the same room as him incited unpleasant memories of the morning before. Not only because he was still recovering from being trampled not too long ago.

Ron's insides twisted at the thought of the drones tearing Cutter apart, limb from limb.

Despite the fact that Cutter was now a rampaging monster with spikes seemingly sticking out at every angle and teeth the size of jack knives, he had once been a man… well, sort of. Ron simply couldn't equate the distasteful person, who had still managed to save his life twice, with the evil genetically engineered weapon that Wade seemed to think he was. Humanity had to count for something. Even for a lying thief like Cutter.

He brushed past Shego, who didn't even flinch. Her eyes were locked on the struggling mass and the snarling form that was quickly being overrun. If Ron didn't know better, he would have thought she almost looked… rattled. He jogged up to Kim, Drakken not far behind her, eyeing the battle anxiously.

"We… we're not_really_ going to let them kill him…" he appealed to his friend and partner. "Are we, Kim?"

Kim looked at him with her beautiful jade eyes. Beautiful and cold. "_It_, Ron. _It_ is a genetically engineered creature made by an _evil_ world empire. It _has_ to be destroyed."

Ron winced at the hard look on her face. "This isn't right, Kim. He wasn't always a monster. He was a person once." He placed a gentle hand on her slender shoulder. "We don't do this to people. _Please_."

Kim stared at the rolling synthetic mass, Cutter now completely buried. Ron felt her deflate slightly under his touch and he released the breath he had been holding. "You're right, Ron." She sighed. A quick flick of her wrist brought the Kimmunicator to her face. "Wade, call them off. We need to find a way to help…"

Suddenly Ron jerked involuntarily, cringing from an unseen assailant. The gnawing fear in his chest had spiked to a terrifying new level. He gasped, his heart beating and adrenaline flowing unrestricted. He wanted to wail in dread.

"Ron?" Kim was instantly gripping his shoulder. "What? What is it?"

Drakken peered over her head. "What's wrong with _what's-his-face_?"

"Oh my God…" Ron hissed through clenched teeth. "I can feel it…"

"What?" Kim practically hollered in his ear, completely ignoring everything else. "_What do you feel?_"

"_Him_!" Ron spat. "He's coming for us!"

The ground rumbled.

"Something's happening!" Shego called out. All eyes turned to the boiling mass of synthodrones, surrounded by expanding lines of reinforcements, clamoring to reach the middle. The ground rumbled again and the mass shuddered. Somewhere inside that heap, something powerful was forcing its way out. Shego turned to look at the three of them with a sadistic smile on her face. "Cutter's still alive! He's kicking your robot's asses!"

Ron shivered. Whatever this weird monkey-sense was, it was telling him definitively that something predatory was after him and by extension, everyone else in the room. He swallowed stiffly, trying to get a hold of himself.

"Kim?" The blue wristwatch squawked. "What's going on? Do you still want me to call the drones off?"

Kim mechanically raised her arm without removing her eyes from the shaking pile. "Hold off on that for a second, Wade."

-

* * *

He was alive!

Shego wasn't sure why that meant anything to her, but it did. He couldn't die. For some reason that was important to her. There were plenty of other people that Shego wouldn't mind if they died, but Cutter somehow was not one of them.

The floor rumbled again. There was no doubt who was the cause.

"Pull back!" Kim cried out from behind her. "Get behind something!" Shego heard Drakken squeal in surprise as the cheerleader undoubtedly yanked him by his collar.

Her emerald eyes were locked on the heaving mass of drones, tumbling like ants around an unseen caterpillar that was thrashing underneath. She found herself locked in place for the second time tonight.

"Shego!" The cheerleader's voice was muffled behind her. "What are you doing? Move!"

She didn't move. She stayed right where she was. The ground rumbled again and the entire pile of mutated synthos rose up and then down. Gloved hands curled into fists and Shego realized that she was whispering through clenched teeth.

"_Come on_." She hissed. "_Come on, you bouncing idiot_."

The pile lurched again, and the rumble caused an empty glass beaker to tumble off a nearby table with a punctuating shatter.

"Shego!" Kim sounded almost pleading. "Come on!"

She ignored her and instead willed strength into that boiling mass. "_Push_ you lazy ass. _Push_!"

Something erupted from the pile of drones, emerging in a spray of solidified gel like a bean sprout. A long, ivory blade that carved three mutant synthos in half along its arced path. A moment later, another similar scythe edge drove through the robots like a shark's dorsal fin.

"_Yes_." Shego snarled. "Kick their _asses_."

The pile heaved again. And again. Drones tumbled backwards down towards the floor even as more clamored towards the peak. Beneath the surface, massive shapes moved and pushed, trying to break free of the swarming cocoon. The drones pushed back, doubling their efforts to bury and smother their prey. The shape of the mass swelled, even as it seemed to shrink towards the floor.

"Shego!" Drakken managed to sound annoyed behind her. "You get right over her right this minute or I'll…"

The mountain exploded, sending tumbling forms flying through the air in every direction. Rising from the center of the explosion in a deafening roar of fury was a hulking monster of muscle and bone. Some drones smashed into the ceiling, immediately tumbling to the ground in a shower of broken pipes and stalactites. Some crashed into the nearby walls and standing equipment while others collided with other drones like bowling pins. Still others came flying straight towards Shego.

The green skinned woman didn't even flinch as two spinning synthos breezed past her, narrowly missing the thief and crashing somewhere behind her. Her eyes were instead on the vicious creature who was tearing through the swarming robots around him with terrifying strength. If possible, he looked even more feral and monstrous then before. A killing machine, born and bred. His entire person had been hijacked by those who created him, twisting him into a tool of purest destruction. She shuddered as she realized the obvious cosmic parallel standing in the same room.

He never had a choice of what he was. What he was _made_ for.

In that moment. Shego knew she had to help him.

-

* * *

Kim pulled Drakken down behind the console with a yelp, a large drone crashing where his head had been just a moment before. The thing rolled past them, already forgotten by the young woman as her mind raced.

Ron was right. The monster had been a man once. But now it was just a monster, one that threatened not only their lives but the lives of everyone else that it came into contact with. She thought of the friendly and peaceful people who lived on the nearby islands. She thought of the constant shipping traffic between those islands and this one, and the horrible thought of this monster somehow crossing the sea to those villages. As painful as the thought of Ron's disapproval was to the teen superhero, she knew what had to be done.

"Stay down." She commanded Drakken in a stiff tone. Surprisingly, the supervillian didn't argue. Across the small gap between the console and the raised platform where Ron had taken shelter, she met the young man's soft brown gaze. His expression was still tight, as if something was clawing at him from inside, but his eyes held nothing but devotion for her. If she hadn't needed to be so strong at that moment, she would have cried.

"I need the lipstick, for just a second." She wasn't proud about how easily she asked for it. Ron tossed the deadly tool to her without hesitation. He trusted her.

"Stay here Ron." She tried to smile at him. His expression shifted into confusion, oblivious to what she had decided to do. She could never ask him to help her with this. She made the choice and it was her burden alone to carry. She would not force Ron to make the choice with her, even if it meant losing him. No. She wouldn't cry. She had to be hard. She had to be a hero.

Without waiting another moment, she jumped out from behind the console and sprinted towards the chaotic battle. She passed Shego, who yelped in surprise. Kim didn't say a word to her. Even her arch nemesis believed the monster was a victim that needed to be saved. Kim couldn't ask her to make the choice either.

The beast, towering atop the swarming drones like some sort of mountain god, roared and drooled in mindless fury. Kim Possible, her young face cold and expressionless, began the calculating assent to murder the god.

-

* * *

Ron was left alone. Confused, terrified and alone. He fought the terror, trying to master it, knowing that it wasn't really _his_ terror, but something that was being forced upon him. But the confusion worried him even more then the terror. What was Kim doing?

Another, different fear began to grow in him. One that was entirely his own.

The blonde teen scrambled from his hiding place, looking out towards where his best friend and partner had dashed. He saw her approaching Cutter and nearly fell over.

"She's taking him on _alone_!" He cried out. "_Kim, no_!"

"She's _what_?" Drakken piped up from behind the console, but Ron was already running.

He didn't think, he didn't rationalize. All he saw was the lithe black and purple form of his girlfriend scaling the horde and he ran. Nothing else mattered.

It was with surprised shock that he found himself on the ground, his arm pinned behind him. He tried to lurch forward and was rewarded with a sharp pain in his shoulder.

"Damnit! Stop it!" Shego snapped at him. "You're going to dislocate your shoulder!"

"No!" He snapped back. "_You're_ going to dislocate my shoulder! _Let me go_!" He tried lifting himself up again only to have the older woman's knee drive him down again.

"Are you insane?" She grabbed him by the hair and pulled his head back so that she could shout in his ear. "What do you honestly think you can do?"

Ron swallowed a curse and cried out with more desperation then he intended. "She's going to try and kill him!" He heard a sharp intake of breath from the woman behind him and her grip loosened. Taking advantage of the moment he pushed and spun around to face his green rival. "You have to help me stop this! That monster will tear her apart!"

"If she doesn't kill him first." Shego sounded hollow.

Ron reached forward and grabbed the powerful woman roughly by the shoulders, something he would never attempt in any other circumstances. "Help me." He pleaded. "I don't have the power to stop them!"

Shego looked at him hard. "I won't kill him."

"I'm not asking you to."

"Short of killing him, there is nothing I can do to stop him." She sounded afraid. Ron had never thought Shego afraid of anything. "What about your stupid monkey powers? Why can't you use those?"

He pulled at his blonde hair in frustration. "I can't use them!" He cried out in desperation. "They never work when I need them! I'm just not_monkey_ _enough_!"

"Monkey enough?" Shego repeated. Her eyebrows rose suddenly and she grabbed him, pulling him roughly to his feet. He yelped at the raw physical strength in her deceptively feminine frame.

"I think I can fix that."

-

* * *

Rufus scampered from pipe to duct and back again, trying to find a way to assist in the insanity below. For a long while he had been hiding, paralyzed not long after he had dropped the light fixture on Drakken. It had come upon him in a wave of primal fear that drove him to find a dark hole to retreat to. Rufus understood instantly that the source of fear was from the same predator that had been at HenchCo, though he lacked the capacity to explain it. But for some reason, the predator's scent had grown in menace a hundred times to the point where the tiny naked mole rat couldn't overpower his natural instinct to run.

But the strength had come, as it always did, from Ron; his owner, his companion and his friend. He could feel Ron's need as distinctly as his own, a strange connection that had developed from spending almost his entire life with the young man and further heightened by the shared commune with the mystical monkey power that both had experienced.

And so, Rufus had fought back his instinctual panic as surely as Ron Stoppable did on the ground below and emerged from hiding. Even now, he shuddered at the sight below him. The snarling beast was a swirling factory of predatory dread that any sane animal would flee upon sensing. But Rufus was not a normal animal. He had never been.

Rufus continued scampering around, trying to find a way back down to his master, who he sensed would need him very soon.

-

* * *

Kim leaped up the pile of drones with the ease of a practiced gymnast. Even so, every robot shifted and turned independently, making each foothold dangerously unreliable. On top of that, she had to dodge the falling synthos that went sailing past her and tumbled down the heap as the monster continued to spin and thrash. She chose her path quickly but carefully, improvising on the fly as the entire structure of the pile shifted under her feet. Always, she watched the movements of the monster. It made no indication that it noticed her beyond the dozens of forms that continued to clamor towards it. She would have one shot and surprise was key. If she missed it she would very likely be dead.

The laser lipstick was gripped tightly in her right hand. She had other gadgets that may have been lethal enough to do the job, if utilized properly, but the lipstick seemed the most surgical to her. She wanted this to be quick and painless.

The last five feet grew more tumultuous. Around her, every drone reached and grabbed, scrambling up towards their programmed target. Oblivious to her and the certain doom they faced when they reached him. Severed pieces of synthodrone fell like some sort of grotesque precipitation around her as the giant muscled beast simply cut them into ribbons with his great clawed hands and sickle-bladed arms. Others he simply picked up and threw across the room. She felt the moisture of his sweat and saliva raining down in his furious effort.

Kim picked her angle. She hopped and leaped around the heap to gain the optimum approach. And taking the first opening given her, she snapped forward like a striking snake, aiming to cleave the monster's head straight from his shoulders.

Her only thought as her arm arced around was the bitter notion that she was Kim Possible; she could do anything.

Even kill.

But it was chance that ruined her perfectly executed attack. As she flew forward, the chaotic pile of drones underneath the monster finally gave way to his powerful thrashing. As one, they all tumbled to the floor in a drowning mass of twisting limbs and crushing bodies. Kim spun in the air, her target dropping in front of her before she herself fell into the throng. She instantly lost all sense of direction as the swirling crowd engulfed her. She fought viciously, trying to kick her way to the surface. But which way was up? It seemed like an eternity, or maybe just a few seconds, but suddenly her reaching forearm felt the cool breeze of the cavernous room. She snarled and pushed, her head breaking free in a gasp. Everywhere the drones where squirming and writhing in the eerie red emergency lights, like some sort of hellish sea.

She pulled the rest of her body out of the constricting hole. Trying to catch her breath and regain her sense of balance, she looked around her immediate area. Where was the monster?

Erupting up like a submarine from the depths he came, quickly knocking back the few drones that still gripped to his powerful body. He roared long and loud. And then he looked at her.

Kim cursed, despite herself. She realized instantly that she had lost the lipstick in the fall. Without taking a moment to lament the lost weapon, she reached for her utility belt, not expecting a second's hesitation from the monster and giving none in return.

As she had anticipated, the beast shot forward within the course of a few hundred milliseconds.

-

* * *

Drakken slinked along the ground in embarrassed dread. Everything had gone so very wrong. The monster was too powerful for even his super synthodrones to subdue and the creature looked like it would not stop its rampage at just them. At this point, the megalomaniac figured it was in his best interests to cut and run. Perhaps he could reap some kind of villain cred latter on if he claimed responsibility for the carnage the monster would cause. But for now, he had to survive and escape.

That was about when something grabbed him by the collar.

Drakken actually screamed until he was roughly smacked upside the head by a familiar green glove. "Oh shut up, you cry baby! Come on, we need your brain." Shego lifted him by the arm and drug him along with the blonde kid towards the RER platform.

He rubbed his face angrily and glowered at his sidekick. "Shego! What are you doing? We need to get out of her before that… _thing_ eats us alive!" He grunted in surprise when she snapped open the hidden panel on the raised platform and pressed the button to lower the podium.

"We need you to figure out a way to reverse your reversing ray." She ignored and pushed him towards the descending weapon. "We need to turn Cutter back into human form, pronto. And the kid here is going to keep him busy until we can do that."

"What?" Drakken sputtered, he looked from her to the teenager, who looked just as confused, if not somewhat discouraged. "_Reverse_ the Reverse Engineering Ray? Into _what_? Just a regular _Engineering Ray_?"

"Damnit, Shego!" The nameless boy tried to pull from her grasp. "I can't stop Cutter! The monkey power just doesn't work! We're wasting time while Kim is…"

Shego spun on the teen and cut him off. "_Do you love her_?"

The boy stopped and stared at her, seemingly frozen in place by the question. He struggled with the answer, as if finding the words was a challenge.

"I… I… well…"

"Do you want to save her life?" Shego pushed him.

"Y-yes."

"Are you willing to do anything for her?"

The teen's expression hardened with the probing questions. "Yes."

"Then stand right there and don't move." She ordered. Drakken was a little surprised to see the boy comply. Then Shego spun back to him with an intense expression that made him recoil slightly. "Can you do it, Dr D?"

"Reverse the reversal?" Drakken squirmed. "I suppose it could be done, but it will take a little time…"

The green woman grabbed him by the shoulders and gave him a look that was one part anger, one part fear and two parts pleading. "_Please_, Drew."

Drakken met her look. She _never_ called him by his old name. In all the time that she had worked under him, she had called him a great many insulting things, but never his old name. Shego argued with him, belittled him and even threatened him, but she never, ever, begged him. Drakken was caught somewhere between sheer resentment that she would dare ask him for anything after how she treated him, and an almost fatherly concern for this viciously independent woman whom he had shared his roof with for these last few years. Ultimately, it was that hidden softness that cracked his evil façade and decided Drakken's course of action.

"Ok, Shego." He swallowed and nervously glanced across the room. "I'll do it."

"Thank you." She said quietly, so that only he could hear. And then her commanding arrogance returned so quickly, Drakken questioned whether the previous exchange had happened at all. "But first, I want you to shoot this kid."

"_What_?" The unnamed teen stumbled backwards. "You're going to do _what_?"

"You said that you're not _monkey_ enough to use your powers." The green woman turned on him. "But we can make you a _lot_ more monkey in just a few seconds."

-

* * *

Kim dove desperately. It wouldn't have been half as bad if the ground had been anything but a squirming mass of mutant synthetic soldiers. But she was nothing if not an improviser.

As much difficulty as she was having on this field of combat, the monster was having much more, since the drones continued to reach and grab at him if he held still for longer then half a second. Even then, he tore through them so easily that it might as well not have made a difference at all.

The beast's long neck darted forward and snapped at her, narrowly missing the ducking teen. Already she had thrown the rest of her razor bobby pins at its face, trying to distract or even blind it. She had been rewarded with, if possible, an even angrier monster now with punk piercings.

But Kim never stopped moving. Her fist shot up towards the angular chin above her head. She drove the impact with her entire body, actually managing to whip the monsters head up enough that he took a step backwards. In the brief moment it took the creature to process what had just happened, she had flipped and spun her way to a safe distance.

The monster, his face so familiar yet so twisted, gave her an almost incredulous look. It snarled and bent its bladed knees, preparing to leap the distance between them. Kim had no doubt that the creature, large as it was, could cross that gap and cut her into ribbons in the time it took her to blink. In truth, there was no safe distance from the monster, being faster, stronger and longer in reach. The only tactical advantage that she could gain was to stay so close that his size worked against him. For that reason, above all, she had just ensured her death by leaping this far from her opponent. The monster hissed and his muscles coiled. He was about to jump. She had no possible exit.

Then a series of high pitched beeps caused the monster to pause, and with that pause the drones started gabbing onto him again like leeches. He snarled and kicked them aside. The beeping increased in tempo and then it became a solid tone. The beast tried to roll his eyes downward searching for the annoying sound.

Then the explosive charge that she had stuck to his jaw detonated.

The monster actually flipped over, spinning backwards off of the steadily slowing pile of drones. She cursed under her breath. The charge hadn't been powerful enough to blow its head off.

Kim sprinted in the direction the creature had been blown. Underneath her feet she felt the change in drones as their bodies grew more solid. The shortened life spans of the berserker chemical reaction had run its course. The synthodrones no longer crawled insistently towards their target. They were dead. And she was on her own.

She raced over the edge, dropping to the dimly lit concrete floor in a controlled roll that brought her back to her feet without a moment's loss. A second explosive charge was already in her hand, ready to toss straight down the monster's gullet. She would need to provoke him into another oral attack, but Kim already had developed six possible scenarios to achieve this by the time she hit the floor.

Which is why it was with significant concern that she found nothing there.

Before even Kim Possible's considerable tactical mind could process the unexpected reality that her foe was, in fact, tough enough to recover nearly instantly from such a blow and then fast enough to outmaneuver her before she could press her attack, a drooling, snarling mass of furious death shot from the shadows to her right. Kim knew she had miscalculated, but she did not dwell on the issue. Instead, she simply reacted.

The hair dryer was in her hand before she could possibly have decided to draw it, and it fired into the creature's descending silhouette. It was a desperate maneuver, she knew. More reflexive then anything. The grapple would be more distracting to the monster then damaging, if even that. The tool wasn't meant to kill, just as none of the tools she had at her disposal were meant to kill. She couldn't help but think, in that strangely surreal moment that seemed to stretch forever as impending death filled her vision, that she would have had much less difficulty if she had simply carried a gun.

And then the moment ended. In a flash of light.

-

* * *

Everything became clear.

A mind expanded, even as it shrunk. Doors opened, even as others were closed. Perception was tilted and then curved into another dimension of experience, and then the ability to comprehend it was blurred as if nearsightedness suddenly set in.

All this. And the pain.

The body changed, forcing itself into something long since extinct. A voice screamed out in agony as corporeal reality tore itself apart and reformed into living history. And then the pain was over. And soft brown eyes opened again, for the first time.

"Sidekick?" He heard someone say. She was a green woman, he knew her. She was a bad person, but now she was helping him. She looked at him strangely. "Stoppable? You… ok?"

The words came out of his mouth. But they were hard to say. "Me… Ron?"

The green woman bared her teeth, but it was not a sign of aggression. It was… a smile. "Yes. You Ron. And Ron needs to get his shit together, like, _right now_."

"Shit… together?" Ron repeated. He scratched his head trying to process the words. Things sort of made sense but were muddled. He shook his head, trying to knock some cobwebs loose. Instead he almost fell over, his center of balance seemed different then he remembered. He dropped his knuckles to the ground, instantly regaining his posture. It felt… natural.

"Come _on_, Stoppable." The green woman pulled at his arm, which seemed a lot larger and hairier then normal. "We don't have time to screw around. You need to save Kim."

Ron suddenly became alert. "Kim?" He knew Kim. She was… important. More important then anything. Ron suddenly became aware of a powerful predatory presence in the room. Its scent was overpowering, causing his heart to race in panic. Animal instinct demanded that he flee, but his human will commanded him to stay.

"Yes! _Kim_!" The green woman pointed. "Cutter will kill her, or she will kill_him_! You need to stop them! You need to use your stupid monkey powers and keep him from killing us all long enough so that we can change him back!"

Ron didn't fully comprehend everything that the green woman was saying. But he did understand that Kim was in danger, and that was all that mattered. He turned and looked across the cave to where the noise came from. To where the scents came from. The scent of terror and the scent of Kim. And there, he saw them. He saw the predator, preparing to leap from the shadows and he saw Kim, falling into its trap.

"Ron save Kim." He said with determination. And he opened a door that had long since been closed.

His devolved brain couldn't fully appreciate what had changed. It was as if the power of the monkey was as natural to him as breathing. Before, it had been difficult for Ron to enter the mindset required to surrender to its influence. But now, it seemed so simple, as if he had been doing it for thousands of years.

Time meant nothing. He had all the time in the world. But that didn't slow his reaction a split seconds worth. One moment he was standing next to the green woman. The next he was across the cave. The predator, large and menacing, descended upon Kim with brutal ferocity. The fear it instilled was a primitive force that welled up within Ron. But he didn't pause for an instant. Instead, he leapt up to meet the carnivore, propelled by raw primal strength and mystical energy.

Together the two forces collided with a crash like lightning.

-

* * *

Kim reeled as a force unlike anything she had experienced knocked her to her back. The monster was gone, her vision suddenly cleared. She saw where her grapple hook had flown unobstructed into the wall in front of her. What the hell just happened?

She felt, as much as heard the struggle beside her. She turned to see a rolling battle in the dimly lit shadows between two silhouettes against the red emergency light. One was immediately recognizable as the sharpened shape of the Cutter-monster but the other was unknown, though distinctly human, only larger and more hulking. It grappled the monster, who was still stumbling from the unexpected collision, and punched it once, twice, three times in the head. Each blow connected with enough force to drive the monster's face into the concrete and she felt the floor vibrate underneath her as it did so. Then the humanoid grabbed the monster by his legs and lifted it into the air, swinging it with enough strength to send it smashing into a nearby cache of heavy equipment, all of which shattered and collapsed onto the living ballistic in a massive heap.

Kim crawled to her feet, dumbfounded. Her extraordinary mind roared through possibility after possibility, trying to decipher and prepare for what was to happen next. Was this a something new that Drakken had brewing? Another robot he had unleashed in desperation? No, it was alive. His own genetic experiment? She couldn't remember the last time he had successfully pulled one of those off. What the hell was this? She quickly stepped backwards as the dark silhouette turned to look in her direction. She saw to pinpricks of light being reflected off very living eyes. She lifted the small explosive charge that she still held in her hand.

The human-thing half walked, half loped towards her. It exited the heavy shadows and she gasped in shock, dropping the charge.

Standing eight feet tall and hunched like a gorilla came a broad shouldered, thick armed, heavily browed Neanderthal. At least, he sort of looked like a Neanderthal, except that he was wearing torn green cargo pants and the remains of a tattered black shirt. That, and he was completely blonde. A blonde caveman.

The humanoid slowly approached her and she didn't run. He made no threatening moves, in fact, he came up to her gently and carefully, a long hairy arm making as if to reach for her, but then retracting again. Soft brown eyes stared at her with total devotion.

Kim felt a terrible knot form in her stomach. "Ron?" She finally asked after a long moment.

The cave man smiled, and she knew. "Kim safe?" He asked in a deep but distantly familiar voice. "Ron _save_ Kim." Nothing could stop the tears at that moment and she didn't even bother to try to be brave.

"Oh my God, Ron." She reached for his flattened face, her thumbs quickly tracing the recognizable characteristics of her boyfriend's visage. He still had his freckles. "What did they do to you?" She choked.

"No cry Kim." Ron drew a light-haired knuckle across her cheek. "You no get hurt." Kim leaned into that touch like it was the only thing solid in the world.

Then there was a familiar rumble.

Ron spun to look back at the pile of rubble behind him. He sniffed the air and grunted, ape-like. "Cutter coming." He looked back to her, his face rocky. "Go to Shegirl and Dragon to be safe. _Ron_ fight Cutter." He pushed her along, gently but with more strength then she could possibly overcome.

"No, Ron!" She pleaded, pushing futilely against his hairy forearm. "He'll kill you! Don't do it!" Suddenly she felt another pair of arms from behind, pulling her from Ron.

"Damnit princess, come on!" Shego growled. "We need to get clear before the fireworks start! You're monkey-brained boyfriend can handle himself for a change!"

Ron gave her a sad smile as she was pulled farther away. Then he turned and leapt towards the pile of rubble, even as it began to shudder and shift as something pushed from below. Kim felt hollow as she let herself be drug towards the main computer console.

"It'd be nice if you helped me out here a little." Shego grumbled, pulling the stumbling teen along. "We've got to get in gear if we're going to…"

Kim whirled around and slapped Shego across the face. The green woman stumbled backwards at the shear ferocity of the blow. She stopped and stared at the younger woman, her gloved hand rubbing her scowling face. "So we gonna do this now, then?"

"How could you?" Kim said quietly, deliberately. "How could you do that to him?"

"He volunteered, Kimmie!" Shego snapped back. "I explained the plan to him and he said _yes_! He did it for _you_, dumbass! He did it to keep you from getting yourself killed by Cutter!" She paused. "And to keep you from killing _yourself_ by murdering an innocent man." She added, more quietly.

"That _monster_ is hardly innocent!" Kim pointed across the ruined control center.

"He has no control over what he is!" Shego shouted again. "It's not his fault he was genetically bred by an _evil organization_! We have to help him! Isn't that what _you_ _do_, Pumpkin? _Help people_?"

Kim had no immediate answer. Partially because she knew that Shego was right, just like Ron was right. And partially because at that moment, the Cutter-monster tore free from the wreckage in a violent explosion that shook the room.

-

* * *

Ron recoiled instinctively as pieces of equipment flew past him. Out of the turmoil flew the predator, arcing across the distance between them with vicious speed. Drooling fangs were distended past lips curled back in fury. Slashing claws dove towards the flatfooted cave man, long enough to skewer his entire bulky frame. He felt the last moments of primal panic that all prey feel when a hunter descends upon them. Fight or flight.

Ron chose fight.

The monkey power flowed and Ron slid sideways as if he were simply standing on a treadmill. Cutter, too mindless to be confused by the maneuver, landed and spun in one fluid motion, his claws scraping deep furrows on the concrete floor as his momentum was diverted like a skater on a rink. He lashed out with an elongated forearm studded with serrated edges. Ron twisted his own simian form, balancing on one hairy arm as the scythe-like blade protruding from Cutter's elbow whistled inches from his head. Following through with his spin, Ron's almost fist-like foot smashed across the monster's face.

"Booyah!" He bellowed in a deep voice.

Cutter's head whipped laterally but he wasn't fazed, swinging back with his massive claws. Ron was forced to drop to all fours, narrowly escaping the thrust. He came back up with both hands interwoven in a reverse double axe handle that cracked into the monster's chin. Cutter staggered back from the blow, but came roaring back, flecks of bloody spittle flying from his maw.

Ron rolled backwards and twisted into an ape-like flip that put some distance between them. He was somewhat smaller then the distorted Cutter, but he was practically as strong and marginally faster thanks to his mystical monkey-boost. But nothing seemed to hurt Cutter. The magically-powered blows that cave-Ron dished out did little to slow the raging creature, and Cutter still had the distinct advantage of multiple deadly appendages that could cut him in half if given the opportunity. Cutter was simply designed to kill. The walking carving knife dropped to all fours and shot across the floor after Ron.

Ron chose flight. Two massive leaps had him at the opposite end of the cave, Cutter not far behind. It was natural for Ron to go up, since he was channeling the forces of monkey. Up into the canopy to escape predators. Up into the trees to use the monkey's superior agility. Without a moments pause, Ron leap up to grip onto the narrow line of conduit that ran vertically along the wall and then bounced off a mounted sconce with improbable physical lightness to grab onto the swinging handholds of the ceiling above.

But Cutter had been caste from a climbing predator whose agility and prowess rivaled that of even the most nimble monkey. With terrifying speed he virtually ran up the wall as if it were the slightest hill. His ivory claws dug into the rock like it was cheese. Unlike Ron, there was nothing light and bounding about his ascent. Sparks and debris flew to the floor with each wrenching claw-hold.

Cave-Ron cut across the room, swinging quickly and easily as if he had been born in the jungle trees. The devolved teen didn't even think about how easy this seemed. He just did it and tried to think of a way to keep Cutter from killing everyone, including him. The monster shadowed him along the wall, his long neck turned to watch his movements like a stalking cat. Ron grunted in frustration. Another powerful swing and he dropped down on top of a raised equipment rack. Cutter skipped along the wall face to intercept him, leaping onto another rack opposite of the devolved teen, low and hunting on four limbs. He growled low and menacingly, claws scraping along the metal surface.

Ron howled and smacked his chest across the small chasm between them. Then he shook his head at the silliness of the move. It was hard to remind himself that he had once been reluctant to embrace the monkey. The power was there now, as much a part of him as the hair on his knuckles. But he had paid a penalty for access to that power. His smaller brain, though more mindful then that of his enemy's, had lost much of the clarity required to fully comprehend the art of Tai Sheng Pek Kwar and the mystical gift that granted it. As such, he had not truly unlocked his full potential as a monkey master. Only Ron Stoppable, the human being, could do that.

But this did not deter the valiant ape-man. His wide shoulders squared off as Cutter prepared to pounce. He recognized that he was all that stood between this reluctant monster and those he loved. And deep down, there was the simple faith in one person who would beat the odds to set everything right.

And that one person was in his corner.

-

* * *

Drakken cursed loudly as, yet again, expensive pieces of equipment were blown apart by the rampaging monster. That creature was destroying everything! It was almost as bad as when that accursed Kim Possible blew up another one of his satellite lairs, as she had the unexplainable habit of doing.

The mad scientist practically tore the protective casing from the side of the RER. He winced. This was no way to treat a work of art. But if he did not manage to reverse the device before the monster killed that oversized ape, he would very likely be eviscerated himself by those awful claws. Drakken shuddered and continued working.

"_What_?" He heard a disgustingly familiar voice snap. "Your major plan depends on _him_?"

Drakken turned his head and saw Shego approaching the lowered platform, towing a grimacing Kim Possible behind her.

"He's the one who built it. So _he's_ the one who can reverse it." His green sidekick responded, with a little less confidence then Drakken would have liked.

"Kim Possible!" Drakken cried out, more out of habit then anything. He pointed a gloved hand at Shego. "You keep that meddlesome girl away from my doom ray!"

Possible scowled at him and lifted her wrist. "You can keep your ray. I'm calling Wade."

"We don't have time for this!" Shego snapped. "You!" She pointed at Drakken. "Keep working!" Drakken turned back to the device, mumbling unpleasantries to himself.

"Stupid girls." He grumbled. "What do _they_ know about super science?" He reached for the nuclear capacitor switch, intending to reverse its polarity. He was more then a little surprised when it arced at his hand in a flash of blue lightning and black smoke. He fell backwards with a cry of shock.

"Yeah." The teen superhero said. "I'm calling Wade."

-

* * *

Wade clipped along his multiple keyboards at a dizzying pace. He had been working at full speed since he last spoke with his teammates over the Kimmunicator. And now, with the expectant face of Kim waiting on his computer screen, he was embarrassed to admit that he had little to show for it.

"Basically, he's a juggernaut." The child genius tossed his hands in the air. "I don't see any obvious weakness other then the need to breath, drink and eat. It's as if his genetic structure was stuck together like Lego blocks. It's not unstable enough to break down without a severe dose of radiation, the sort that would kill everything on the island, and there are no allergic reactions to anything I can find." He rubbed his hands over his face. "His immune system operates at an almost immeasurable rate. I'm not sure if there is anything that could truly stop him without simply killing him." He gave Kim an apologetic look across the screen. "I just don't understand how his creators expected to control him when they engineered him."

"They couldn't." Kim's voice was hard. "That's why this was a prototype phase that evolved into Cutter."

Wade groaned. "I'm sorry Kim, I just don't have the information on hand. Most of this is just speculation from the bioscan. If I was there, maybe I could…"

"Hold that thought, Wade." The entire image of the cheerleader moved and shifted as the camera view from her wrist turned away. Wade grew still as her biosigns suddenly flat-lined.

"Kim? Kim!" He shouted at the screen.

Then the biosigns started again. Heartrate, blood pressure, adrenaline… but they were different. Not the same as a few moments ago.

A large, blue face suddenly filled Wade's monitor. "Hello? What? How do you work this thing?" Wade blinked in surprise. Drakken was wearing the Kimmunicator.

The readhead pushed her way onto screen, giving the megalomaniac a withering look. "Wade, I need you to work with Drakken to fix his doomsray. We need to reverse the process."

Both the child genius and the mad scientist protested at the same time. Drakken admonished that he would work with anyone, let alone a simple child while Wade argued that he couldn't possibly accomplish anything with the bumbling mishmash that was Drakken's approach to science. They both were silenced at once.

"Knock it off!" Kim barked, and Drakken recoiled slightly. She fixed her teammate with a gaze across the thousand miles between them. "Wade, this not just for Cutter. We need to do this for _Ron_."

Wade sighed, and nodded his head. "I'll do my best, Kim. For Ron."

Drakken grimaced but recoiled again when the redhead fixed him with another, less friendly stare. "I suppose I could try to explain my invention to the boy." He said reluctantly. Wade simply rolled his eyes, but stayed silent.

"Good." She stood straighter. "Meanwhile, me and Shego have some backup to provide." The redhead disappeared from the screen. From somewhere out of the camera's view Wade heard the familiar condescending tone of the green thief.

"How is it that you suddenly come in and take over?" She sounded annoyed. "It was _my_ plan,_ I_ came up with the damn thing."

Against the sounds of titanic battle, they all set to work.

-

* * *

_To be concluded? Ha. I'll believe it when I see it._


End file.
